Calhoun, Talent, Graves and Others Trying to Shield Soldiers from "Loansharks"
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 7, 2006) – Congress should act to protect the people protecting us – our soldiers, sailors and aviators – from predators who trap them in loans with annual interest rates as high as 400 percent. Michael D. Calhoun, CRL president, joined Sen. Jim Talent (R-MO) and Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) to endorse an amendment to cap payday loans to service members at 36 percent. That is the limit many states impose in their usury statutes to ban loan-sharking. Payday borrowers, using a signed a postdated check as collateral, often end up paying more than $800 to borrow $340. The Senate