WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which is led by the unlawfully appointed “Acting Director” Mick Mulvaney, joined the leading payday lenders’ association in filing a joint motion to delay the compliance date for the CFPB’s rule on payday loans (PDF) until 445 days from the final judgement of litigation challenging the rule.

Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Director of Federal Policy Scott Astrada issued the following statement:

It is appalling that an agency with a primary mission of protecting consumers is now teaming up with a payday lending industry that is notorious for trapping people in debt. Delaying the implementation of the Payday Rule would serve only to allow payday loans to continue pulling Americans down into a financial freefall.

Instead of letting Mulvaney feed consumers to loan sharks, the Trump Administration should appoint a permanent director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with a commitment to protecting consumers.

To learn more about the CFPB’s Payday Rule, which was developed over the course of five and a half years, go to https://www.consumerfinance.gov/payday-rule/

For more information, or to arrange an interview with a CRL spokesperson on this issue, please contact Matthew Kravitz at matthew.kravitz@responsiblelending.org or 202-349-1859.