CRL in the News

Daniel Radford and Jim Jones might be miles and years apart, but they’re as close to right on as they can get. Today you’ll read, on the facing page, a piece penned by young Radford, a sophomore at prestigious Emory University in Georgia. Radford hails from Sandpoint. On the March 8 op-ed page, The Press published an opinion piece written by Jones, former chief justice of the Idaho Supreme Court. Both men have taken aim at — and hit squarely in the bull’s-eye — a dangerous Idaho bill that would undermine the power of the people.

Several organizations, including the Indiana Institute for Working Families, met at the Indiana Statehouse 3rd floor atrium March 11 to explain their opposition to a subprime lending bill co-authored by Huntington’s state senator. State Sen. Andy Zay, R-Huntington, co-authored Senate Bill 613, which the Center for Responsible Lending said would allow lenders to exceed for everyone but active military personnel the annual rate cap including fees and charges of 36 percent established in the Military Lending Act.

A large coalition of consumer advocacy, non-profit and religious groups is calling on state legislators to scrap a controversial short-term lending bill. The legislation passed through the state Senate and now awaits a hearing in a house committee. While some lawmakers say the proposal gives more options to Hoosiers with bad credit, opponents say it will only worsen their financial situations.

In a recent op-ed, Consumer Bankers Association President Richard Hunt asserts that bank payday loans were a service to customers and argues that they should be restarted. The facts, though, show that while these loans produced huge fees for banks, they were a usurious debt trap for bank customers. Just a few years ago, banks were making 200%-plus APR payday loans, which they euphemistically called “deposit advance products.” While deposit advances were marketed as a small-dollar, quick fix to a budgetary shortfall, they typically led to an expensive debt trap. These were payday loans, dressed

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created in 2010 to help protect American consumers against bad corporate practices. But Democratic lawmakers believe the agency has taken a turn under President Donald Trump. This week, House Democrats began looking into a recent decision by the agency to delay a rule on payday lending. “This committee will not tolerate the Trump Administration’s anti-consumer actions,” Rep. Maxine Waters said at a hearing that looked into the issue, among others, on Thursday.

When political candidates spend their time begging for cash from wealthy interests and legislating to prioritize private profits over the public good, regular people lose out. The corporations and superrich donors that dominate our elections have an outsized influence over who wins, what gets discussed in campaigns and what legislative ideas receive serious consideration. The sweeping legislative package known as the For the People Act (H.R. 1) contains ethics, campaign finance and voting rights reforms that are essential to make our government work effectively and fairly.

NASHVILLE, TN – Single-family homes used to line the 700 block of 26 th Ave N. But several lots are now empty, the modest houses gone, and the families who lived in them have moved away. Tonya Wade-Moody still lives in one of the remaining homes. And she is plenty angry. “Where are the affordable homes? All of these people are being kicked out, put out of their homes. You’re bringing in these high-priced condos/ apartments. The average person can’t afford that,” said Tonya Wade-Moody. She spoke to the City Council Dec 4, 2018.

Aberdeen, Washington, is a far Northwest outpost of JPMorgan Chase & Co., with one lonely branch perched near the Pacific, 2,900 miles from Wall Street. Now the bank is planning to depart the rainy timber town that gave the world Kurt Cobain. The next-closest Chase branch is 40 miles away. At the same time, JPMorgan plans to open 70 branches in the vicinity of the other Washington -- the wealthy national capital. Among the new locations is suburban McLean, Virginia, the 25th richest town in the U.S.

A federal rule that would have provided an extra level of consumer protection against payday lending practices has been proposed to be rescinded on the basis that it would reduce access to short-term loans for consumers. Idaho cities in the past have attempted to protect citizens from payday loans that often trap consumers with drastically high interest rates. Idahoans paid almost $31 million in overdraft bank fees for payday loans and more than $65 million in fees for title loans in 2017, said Ellen Harnick, head of the Center for Responsible Lending's western office in Oakland.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced legislation last week that would end the practice of forced arbitration and allow consumers to file class action suits against financial companies. The Arbitration Fairness for Consumers Act would also ensure that financial crimes cannot be hidden from the public in a private and opaque process.