High-Cost Lenders Scheme with Banks to Evade Consumer Protections

High-Cost Lenders Scheme with Banks to Evade Consumer Protections

A few high-cost lenders are evading state consumer protections through rent-a-bank schemes. Through these sham arrangements, these companies are exploding right through the interest rate limits that most states have put in place for good reason, to protect people from high-cost debt traps that drain them of their hard-earned income. In the following states, payday lenders are using banks, which...
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Payday and Other Small Dollar Loans

Tulsa World editorial: Don't roll back rules that protect consumers from payday lending abuses

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Tulsa World
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should not reverse a common-sense rule that protects payday lending borrowers. This month, the bureau proposed rolling back a 2017 rule that prohibits loans to borrowers who cannot demonstrate an ability to pay them back. That essentially prevents payday lenders from intentionally making short-term loans to weak borrowers then repeatedly flipping the debt to amass...
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Payday and Other Small Dollar Loans

Testimony of Lisa Stifler Before the CFPB Field Hearing on Medical Debt Collection, December 2014

Testimony of Lisa Stifler Before the CFPB Field Hearing on Medical Debt Collection, December 2014

Read Lisa Stifler's remarks before the December 2014 CFPB Field Hearing on Medical Debt Collection on the distinct lack of standards for when a bill is sent to a debt collector or reported to credit reporting agencies. These distinctions can result in unique harms to individuals in the credit reporting context. As CFPB research has shown, consumers with medical debts...
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Testimony
Debt Collection & Settlement

States without Payday and Car‐title Lending Save $5 Billion in Fees Annually

States without Payday and Car‐title Lending Save $5 Billion in Fees Annually

Payday and car title loans are small-dollar, high-cost products that thrive on keeping consumers in a cycle of debt. With lenders doing essentially no underwriting, consumers find it easy to obtain these loans, often marketed as a solution to financial emergency. However, the unaffordability of the loan and the lenders extreme leverage over the borrowers – either through direct access...
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Research
Payday and Other Small Dollar Loans

Payday and Car Title Lenders Drain Nearly $8 Billion in Fees Every Year

Payday and Car Title Lenders Drain Nearly $8 Billion in Fees Every Year

Payday and car-title loans typically carry annual percentage rates (APR) of at least 300%. These high-cost loans are marketed as quick solutions to a financial emergency. Research demonstrates, however, that they frequently lead to debt that is nearly impossible to escape. In addition, these loans are related to a cascade of other financial consequences, such as increased overdraft fees, delinquency...
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Research
Payday and Other Small Dollar Loans

Payday Loans, Inc: Short on Credit, Long on Debt

Payday Loans, Inc: Short on Credit, Long on Debt

Read the full report (PDF) >> Read the executive summary (PDF) >> Payday Loans, Inc.: Short on Credit, Long on Debt dispels the notion that a payday loan is a short-term debt. Although marketed and advertised as a quick solution to an occasional financial shortfall, the actual experience of payday loan borrowers reveals there is nothing quick about the loan...
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Research