Advocates from across the country are sounding off on what they say are efforts by the Trump administration to weaken protections against predatory payday lending, which sees borrowers pay skyrocketing interest rates, locking them into an inescapable cycle of debt.
Under a rule set to go into effect later this year, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will rescind an Obama-era requirement that lenders first determine a borrower’s ability to pay before they give them a loan.
That’s a “fundamental principle of responsible lending,” a coalition of advocates said this week.