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Urging the Pennsylvania General Assembly to oppose legislation that would weaken existing protections against predatory lending and harm the citizens of our Commonwealth by legalizing high-cost, long-term payday loans.
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WHEREAS, Pennsylvania currently has one of the strongest laws in the country to protect consumers from predatory payday loans, with a strict and reasonable cap on interest and fees that lenders may charge borrowers; and
WHEREAS, Predatory payday loans carry extraordinarily high fees and interest and are made based on the lender's ability to collect the loan through access to the borrower's bank account on payday, rather than the borrower's ability to repay the loan without experiencing further financial problems; and
WHEREAS, In states where they are legal, predatory payday loans have devastating effects on borrowers, leading to delinquencies on other bills, overdrafts on bank accounts, and bankruptcy, as well as negative impacts on communities, draining nearly $1 billion a year in economic activity and increasing usage of food assistance and charitable relief services; and
WHEREAS, Predatory payday loans were so harmful to our nation's soldiers that the U.S. Department of Defense found that they impaired military readiness, and it recommended and President George W. Bush signed a federal law establishing a 36% annual rate cap, including both fees and interest, on loans made to active duty military members and their families, a protection similar to what Pennsylvania has in place for all families; and
WHEREAS, In the current session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, legislation is being drafted that would eviscerate Pennsylvania's existing fee and interest rate cap on consumer loans and would legalize high-cost, long-term payday loans, under the rubric of the "Pennsylvania Financial Services Credit Ladder"; and
WHEREAS, A memorandum being circulated to solicit sponsors for the Financial Services Credit Lad...
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