Standing up to predatory loans
These loans are easy to get -- and they're likely to trap you in debt.
Right now, high-cost payday lenders are allowed to give loans with triple-digit interest rates to people with low but steady incomes -- including veterans. Thanks to this practice, lenders can demand sums of up to three times the amount of the original loan.
This isn't right and shouldn't be allowed -- tell your U.S. senators today to pass the Veterans and Consumers Fair Credit Act (VCFCA).
You’ll find them outside military bases, in low-income neighborhoods -- wherever you find people earning small but steady paychecks. It’s there that high-cost payday lenders set up shop -- like “bears on a trout stream,” according to experts -- and offer predatory loans with sky-high interest rates.
To keep these lenders from taking advantage of active-duty service members, Congress passed the Military Lending Act in 2006, which capped interest rates at 36% on predatory loans given to those serving in the military. These protections are great, but so many other consumers can still find themselves hooked into high-interest loans, owing double or triple the original loan amount in interest.
If passed, the VCFCA would extend the Military Lending Act’s protections out to all Americans -- keeping these predatory lending practices away from our country’s most vulnerable populations.
The bill would cap interest rates at 36% for all sorts of loans, including various short-term loans that some people need to make it from one paycheck to another.
Tell your senators to protect consumers and back the VCFCA.
This bill would help a lot of Americans -- but it has some powerful and vocal opponents.
In the past, the American Bankers Association has spoken out against similar measures -- and lenders who profit off high-interest loans are already making their opposition heard.
That’s why it’s so important that Congress hears from us too. If we stand up and speak together, we can make a difference.
Take action now to protect consumers.