“”The DNC chair describes Florida’s state law as a “model” for payday loan legislation. The director of the Campaign to Stop the Debt Trap at Americans for Financial Reform says otherwise, calling Florida’s law ‘a sham’ and pointing out that ‘it was backed by the industry.’”
“Public Justice, working as counsel to Americans for Financial Reform, announced today that it has won a motion to unseal court documents showing how AMG Services, Inc., the payday lending business owned by magnate Scott Tucker, deceived borrowers about the total amount their loans would cost. The carefully orchestrated scheme netted Tucker and his associates at least $1.32 billion out of the pockets of hard-pressed borrowers.”
“The undersigned civil rights, consumer, labor, faith, veterans, seniors, and community organizations, strongly urge you to oppose H.R. 4018, the “Consumer Protection and Choice Act.” This harmful bill would limit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) ability to protect all consumers against high-cost payday, car title, and installment loans… H.R. 4018 would allow the payday industry to avoid federal regulation altogether by pushing an industry-backed proposal based on a Florida law that has proven ineffective at stopping the payday loan debt trap.”
High cost “quick-fix” consumer lenders reported spending more than $15 million to influence Washington decision-makers during the last election cycle, according to an updated report (view or download full report here) released today by Americans for Financial Reform. The Online Lenders Alliance (OLA) and Community Financial
“Late last night, a bipartisan group of Armed Services Committee members, led by Rep. Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), a veteran, upheld the Defense Department’s efforts to close loopholes and add new protections to the Military Lending Act (MLA), a 2007 law that was meant to declare servicemembers off-limits to payday and other debt-trap consumer loans.”
“First, for a loan to be fair, the borrower must have the ability to repay… Second, the Bureau has recognized that this crucial principle… must apply to a sufficiently broad range of small-dollar loans, and not just to a narrowly defined set of payday or car- title loans. Otherwise, abusive lenders will do what they have done in many of the states that have tried to crack down on such abuses: find ways to evade the rules without giving up their basic debt-trap approach.”
At a CFPB hearing in Richmond, Va., AFR delivered a letter in which a remarkable array of civil rights, faith, economic justice, elder, community and civic organizations – 500 altogether, including groups from all 50 states – applaud the CFPB for its commitment to this issue and urge it to develop and implement regulations that finally put payday, car-title and other small-dollar lenders “on the same footing as other lenders, requiring them to play by the rules and make fair loans.”
Since the beginning of 2013, high-cost loan providers and those with ties to the industry have spent more than $13 million on lobbying and campaign donations to at least 50 lawmakers, according to a new report from the nonprofit Americans for Financial Reform. Recipients include big names on both sides of the aisle…
A new report from Americans for Financial Reform finds that payday, car title and installment lenders have spent more than $13 million in campaign contributions and lobbying during the 2014 election cycle. The Online Lenders Alliance (OLA) and Community Financial Services Association (CFSA) led the way, with combined
“The Military Lending Act [restricts] small-dollar, short-term lending practices, but lenders have found many ways around the law. The Defense Department has proposed beefing up the act… so that it applies to ‘all forms of payday loans, vehicle title loans, refund anticipation loans, deposit advance loans, installment loans, unsecured open-end lines of credit, and credit cards…’ A number of financial services industry associations believe the current proposal… takes the wrong approach… [But] the Consumer Federation of America, the National Consumer Law Center and Americans for Financial Reform all support the expansion.”