Agency decision to rescind bank payday guidance draws criticism from more than 100 faith leaders, consumer advocates, civil rights organizations across U.S. WASHINGTON, D.C. – One day after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) rescinded its 2013 guidance to curb predatory bank payday loans, more than 100 faith leaders, consumer advocates, and civil rights organizations from across …

Consumer, Civil Rights Advocates Welcome Key First Step to Stopping the Debt Trap, Promise to Keep Up the Fight WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, consumer and civil rights advocates from around the country representing the Stop the Debt Trap campaign welcomed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) new rule to limit short-term payday and car-title lenders’ ability to trap borrowers in …

Supporters of loan sharking swarm in the House For immediate release: September 14, 2017                       Contact: Caren Benjamin, 202-257-9209 WASHINGTON — Faced with the opportunity to protect Americans from payday lenders and their 400 percent interest rate loans, a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives instead chose to side with America’s legalized loan sharks and give them special protections for …

When the National Consumer Law Center published the report Installment Loans: Will States Protect Borrowers From a New Wave of Predatory Lending? in July 2015, predatory installment lenders were moving into the states, seeking statutory authority to make consumer installment loans at sky-high interest rates. The report analyzed which states allowed high-cost installment lending and which did not, but warned …

Six years after Colorado enacted a payday law reform bill in 2010, payday lenders in Colorado continue to trap their customers in long‐term, high‐cost debt. The promises of a quick‐and‐easy cash infusion draw consumers in, and the rapidly mounting costs keep them from getting out. This report uses data published by the Colorado Attorney General’s Consumer Credit Unit (Demographical and …

The Center for Responsible Lending’s (CRL) latest report on the long‐term cycle of debt of payday lending focuses on the costs to consumers on Colorado. Read the entire report at responsiblelending.org. Highlights include: Majority‐minority areas in Colorado (over 50% African‐American and Latino) are nearly twice as likely to have a payday store than all other areas, and 7 times more …

The watchdog organization Campaign for Accountability has filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics requesting an investigation into whether 11 members of the House illegally colluded with the payday lending industry. Their complaint stems from a report titled “Cheaper by the Dozen” released on September 30th. The report shows how the lawmakers in question took formal action in …

October 15, 2015 Atlantic Online If the U.S. Government Treated Poor People as Well as It Treats Banks October 6, 2015 National Journal Watchdog Files Ethics Complaints Against 11 Members Over Payday-Lender Support For more coverage: October 5, 2015, Campaign for Accountability | CfA Files Ethics Complaint Against 11 Members of Congress Alleging Collusion with Payday Loan Industry October 9, …

Recently, the organization Allied Progress released a new report, Cheaper By the Dozen, highlighting the relationship between members of Congress and the payday lending industry. The report covers a dozen members of the House of Representatives who, since 2011, have received at least $25,000 in campaign contributions from the payday lending industry and have taken action in support of the …

October 2, 2015 Huffington Post How to Protect the Working Poor From 300 Percent Interest Rates October 2, 2015 Reuters Online U.S. payday lending probe targets Philadelphia-area businessman: records October 2, 2015 Washington Examiner Online Obama’s Postal Service nominees opposed by labor, civil rights groups October 2, 2015 Telegraph Online Political Notebook: New program focuses on helping military October 2, …