Policy & Legislation

SB 613 increases the rates for existing consumer loans in Indiana, adds additional high-cost loan products to the marketplace, and significantly increases the rates that are considered to be criminal loan sharking. For each of these changes, lenders are provided extraordinary leverage over the borrower, are able to structure the loans in a way that incentivizes repeat re-borrowing, and are not required to ensure that the loans are affordable in light of a borrower’s income and expenses. This combination of incredibly high-cost loans without any sufficient protections against the harms of...

In early February 2019, the current Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger released a proposal to gut the CFPB’s 2017 rule aimed at stopping payday and car title loans from trapping people in debt. Director Kraninger’s plan would repeal the heart of the 2017 payday rule, which generally requires that lenders determine a borrower’s ability to repay a loan before making it. The payday loan debt trap is devastating. Download the toolkit for a background on the rule and three ways for you to take action today!

The following provides an overview of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger’s proposal to repeal the CFPB’s 2017 rule aimed at stopping the debt trap of payday and car title loans. This document includes the Center for Responsible Lending’s (CRL’s) initial analysis of the purported rationale for the repeal. As we further consider the proposal, our reactions may evolve. Undeniably, the proposal would result in a significant reversal of key consumer protections for the benefit of lenders who charge interest rates of more than 300% APR. Download the complete PDF.

A 30-minute documentary produced by the Center for Responsible Lending, in cooperation with South Dakotans for Responsible Lending Before November 2016, payday and car title lenders in South Dakota charged annual interest rates up to 574%, trapping people in debt and often ruining their financial lives. The state legislature wouldn't pass reform, so South Dakotans put a 36% interest rate cap on the ballot. In a true David and Goliath story, payday lenders spent $3 million and put a competing measure on the ballot, a fake interest rate cap intended to fool people into thinking they were voting...

In the last decade, student loan debt has exploded, directly impacting the lives of millions of Americans and leaving its mark on the entire economy. There are currently over 44 million Americans with student loan debt. With the costs of higher education continuing to rise at alarming rates and a college education becoming a requirement for more and more jobs, millions more will soon be joining their ranks. Burdened by extraordinary student loan debt and stagnant wages, a generation of Americans are delaying or forgoing opportunities to build wealth, such as purchasing their first homes or...

In 2008, the majority of Ohio voters affirmed capping the cost of payday loans in the state to 28% interest, inclusive of all fees and other charges. Since that time, payday and car title lenders have evaded the voter-mandated cap, engaging in schemes to charge rates reaching over 300% annual percentage rate (APR), and even higher than 500% APR. In 2018, after a decade of inaction by Ohio regulators and lawmakers, the Ohio legislature approved some restrictions on these lending schemes. Even with these 2018 changes, payday lenders in Ohio will still be able to charge upwards of 200% APR, and...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued the first part of a final national rule that addresses payday and car title lending. For years, civil rights organizations, consumer advocates, faith groups, working families, and others across the country have pushed for a rule to protect their communities from the payday lending debt trap. This rule represents another step forward in protecting the millions of people lenders intentionally trap in 300-plus percent interest loans. We expect payday and car title lenders to aggressively attempt to block the rule, which is based on the...

One day after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) rescinded its 2013 guidance to curb predatory bank payday loans, more than 230 ( updated) faith, consumer advocate, and civil rights organizations from across the country sent a letter to America's banks urging them to pledge that they will not begin making payday loans and to oppose the rollback of the important consumer protections that keep other banks from doing so.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 5, 2017 North Carolina Consumer Protections Remain Crucial As CFPB Releases New Payday Lending Rule North Carolina Usury Cap Keeps Loan Sharks at Bay Durham, NC — While consumers in states that are burdened by predatory payday lending will benefit from a final rule issued today by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), North Carolina has already eliminated payday lending altogether and established a 30% interest rate cap for consumer loans. Our cap is a much more effective protection than the CFPB rule, as it saves North Carolina families over $457...

Enfoque is a Spanish information service of CRL's Latino Affairs. All the content is in Spanish; the hyperlinks throughout the document land on the original sources on our website or mostly English pages. No 1 | Vol VIII | 2017 No 1 | Vol VII | 2016 No 1 | Vol VI | 2015 No 1 | Vol V | 2012 No 2 | Vol IV | 2011