November 10, 2014
Contact: Andrew High, 919-313-8533, Andrew.High@
CRL, CRC Leaders: Honor Vets by Protecting Them from Payday Lending Scams
As the nation marks Veterans Day tomorrow, leaders from Center for Responsible Lending and the California Reinvestment Coalition are urging California state legislators and the state’s members of Congress to follow the lead of the Department of Defense and honor veterans by passing legislation reining in abusive payday lending. The Department of Defense recently issued new proposed rules to update enforcement of the Military Lending Act. The proposed rules would enhance existing protections capping interest on loans to active duty members of the military at 36% annual interest. With more than 1.8 million veterans, California is home to the nation’s largest number of veterans. California also has the nation’s largest active duty military population—over 160,000 service members.
“With more than 2,000 payday stores, California has more payday lending outlets than McDonalds,” said Paul Leonard, California Director of the Center for Responsible Lending. “While Congress has taken steps to protect our active duty military members and their families from predatory payday lending, the day that an active duty member finishes their service, they are at risk of being ensnared in the payday lending debt trap. Too many of our veterans live in or near poverty—the exact profile payday lenders are looking for in a customer. Our veterans deserve better. They deserve lawmakers that will fight to give them the same protections active service members have.” Continue reading
