Payday News January 23

Highlight

January 18, Billings Gazette: Guest Opinion: Don’t Muzzle U.S. Consumer Watchdog
Katie Sutton of the Montana Organizing Project defends the CFPB noting the strong support from Montana for the payday lending rule last fall.

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January 23, Salt Lake Tribune: Only 3% of Utah campaign money came from constituents, 92% from special interests
An article about campaign contributions in Utah mentions that payday lenders contributed nearly $50,000 last year, and that a payday lender was involved in a scandal bringing down the attorney genera.

January 23, Bradenton Times: Payday Lender Settles for $28 Million With Bondi
Roughly 14,000 borrowers in Florida are now expected to be able to receive part of a collective cash payment of $11 million, following the state A.G.'s $28 million settlement with CashCall, a payday lending company now prohibited from collecting on more than $15 million in loan balances from clients.

January 22, The Bulletin: Orson Aguilar: Protect financial watchdogs from new government's ax
President of the Greenlining Institute backs the CFPB, mentioning the agency’s crackdown on payday lenders.

January 20, American Banker: Court rules CFPB can investigate tribal payday lenders
Native American tribal lenders that market small-dollar and installment loans can be investigated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a California appeals court ruled Friday in a victory for the consumer agency.

January 19, The Hill: CFPB fights to end financial discrimination. We must fight for it.
This opinion piece in The Hill is penned by an employee of the CFPB who identifies herself as a black, queer woman and responds to charges of discrimination within the CFPB, citing CFPB’s addressing those issues and the agency’s strong work against discrimination by financial institutions.

January 18, Lincoln Journal Star: Set Limits on Predatory Payday Loans
The editorial board supports a payday reform bill introduced by two freshman senators. The column touts the 36% interest rate cap, though the bill would allow for fees outside that cap.

January 18, The Guardian: ‘The swamp is Goldman Sachs’: how the bank is rewarded for putting profits over people
Demonstrators began a camp out in front of Goldman Sachs building in NYC on January 17 with signs saying “Government Sachs.” They are protesting the bank’s involvement in payday lending and other issues and complaining that its associates are winning top spots in the new administration.

January 18, ABC 33/40: Local legislators confident payday lending reform will happen this year
Two state legislators attended a local panel discussion at a church in Mountain Brook, Alabama to discuss the need for payday lending reform and the high possibility that reform would be proposed in this year’s legislative session.

January 17, Public Radio Tulsa: State Lawmakers to Consider Payday Lending Reform
A state senator in Oklahoma is introducing payday reforms including a 24-hour cooling off period and 90-day indebtedness.

January 17, Reuters: Schumer to Trump: Don't fire U.S. consumer agency's head
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer used strong words to ask Trump not to fire Richard Cordray as head of the CFPB, reminding Trump that he had promised to “un-rig” the system. The article mentions that Elizabeth Warren said removing Cordray would block the pending payday lending and other rules.
More coverage: Cleveland.comThe HillBloomberg BNAColumbus Dispatch

January 17, Legal NewsLine: Calif. Supreme Court: No immunity extension for tribal payday lenders
Two federally recognized tribes have been denied immunity protections from California payday lender regulations after a recent state Supreme Court decision. The court found Dec. 22 that payday loan businesses created by the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and Santee Sioux Nation tribes were not "arms of the tribe," and therefore are not protected under tribal sovereign immunity.

January 16, WKOW: Are you paying off debt the wrong way?
Consumer advice piece warns readers to stay away from payday loans.
More coverage: Valley News