Predatory lenders launch TV campaign claiming Oregonians will die if interest rates are capped
A national car title industry launched an aggressive PR campaign against Oregon legislation that would end loan sharking and limit interest rate for predatory loans to 36 percent. The ad highlights a Salem senior citizen who turned to a car title lender because she didn’t have the money to buy her insulin supply. The ad goes so far as to suggest she would have died without the car title loan.
This is a classic scare tactic that is spreading dangerous misinformation. In reality there are more affordable options for anyone who needs life-saving medication.
Now the real fight begins
“Oregon’s payday lenders are reaching even lower depths of roguery in their attempts to evade regulations approved last month by the Legislature.” Willamette Week, May 17, 2006. Learn more about the loophole...
We can help win economic fairness by asking lawmakers to support the following consumer protection bills. Together, these bills that will help Oregon families keep more of their hard earned money by making basic financial services, like check cashing and short-term loans, more affordable. Together, those proposals will make the following important changes:
Protect all consumers from high-interest loans. Cap all consumer loans at 36 percent.
Tighten regulations on short-term payday loans.
Limit fees and interest on short-term car title loans.
Strengthen loan-writing rules for conventional loans.
The only way Oregon consumers can win against the powerful payday loan industry is by running a smart, aggressive campaign. They have money. They have influence. They have power. But there are more of us than there are of them and that’s why we won last session. In order to protect that win, we need your help. Please join us.
The Oregon House of Representatives took the best step possible this week to further curb the predatory lending practices of payday and car-title lenders. The businesses prey on the poor and the desperate and, while the House cannot prevent that, at least it placed limits on the damage. Legislators move to block predatory loans. . The Oregonian. May 5, 2007.
Oregon moved closer to a total cap on interest rates Thursday, when the state House passed a 36 percent limit on consumer loans under $50,000. Bill add limits to payday lending. The Oregonian. May 4, 2007.
Oregon had such a usury law until 1981, when legislators joined other states across the country in scrapping interest limits. It’s time to protect Oregonians and reinstate the usury law. "Revive usury law." Eugene Register Guard. April 5, 2007.
Lawmakers advanced a bill Monday that would cap interest rates at 36 percent per year for all consumer loans less than $50,000 in an effort to close loopholes in Oregon state law that supporters say is being exploited by payday loan shops. "Oregon lawmakers move to cut interest rates for payday loans." The Associated Press. April 2, 2007.
Pastor Dodd of Eugene discusses how the predatory lending industry is using scare tactics to get people to take out triple-digit loans. "Let’s pass bill to cap loan rates."Eugene Register Guard. March 20, 2007.
Not only do payday lenders prey upon those with a gambiling addiction, but they also prey upon the people who are desperate to pay their rent, buy food, or pay for a health care emergency. "Loans up the ante for gambling addicts."The Oregonian. March 18, 2007.
The only way to keep lenders from finding loopholes that allow them to skirt an interest-rate cap is to extend the cap to all consumer loans and House Bill 2871 does just that."Oregon needs a rate cap on all consumer loans."Statesman Journal. March 15, 2007.
The Wall Street Journal reports how the predatory lending industry has begun a $10 million dollar defensive advertising campaign in response to the reform bills that are being discussed in Oregon, New Mexico, and Virginia. Read it here. Feb. 21, 2007.
The four bills aimed at closing loopholes in 2006 legislation regulating the payday loan industry, passed in the House. Bills address loopholes in loan rules. Register-Guard. February 14, 2007.
The analysis, by the progressive Oregon Center for Public Policy, concludes that about 100,000 Oregon adults with incomes of less than $30,000 paid a fee to cash a check in the year just before a survey taken last summer. "100,000 poor in state pay to cash check." The Oregonian. February 08, 2007.
P utting an end to predatory payday lending in Oregon is going to require tougher legislation than the package now heading for a vote in the House. ""Plug that payday loan loophole." February 2, 2007.The Oregonian.
Four bills to regulate check cashing businesses and high-interest money lenders were approved Wednesday by a legislative committee and sent to the House floor for a vote. "Four bills target payday lenders."The Oregonian. February 1, 2007.
According to data kept by the state Department of Consumer and Business Services, about one-fourth of the payday lenders registered in Oregon have already applied for a type of lending license that would enable them to escape the restrictions adopted by the Legislature in April. "Payday lending still pays." The East County News. January 4, 2007.
Unfortunately, there are still plenty of legal loopholes in Oregon that allow lenders to gouge the poor. For example, some lenders may attempt to skirt the new rules by offering borrowers high-interest lines of credit, as they have in several other states that have adopted tough rules on payday loans. "Close lender loopholes."Eugene Register Guard. December 29, 2006.
The governor said he would propose legislation in the 2007 session, which begins next month, to extend the payday loan restrictions to out-of-state and Internet lenders and to cap rates and fees on short-term loans secured by vehicle titles. "Kulongoski administration makes new payday loan rules in Oregon."The Roseburg News-Review. December 22, 2006.
Payday lenders make most of their profit by making loans over and over to the same people, according a new report by a North Carolina advocacy group. "Payday lenders thrive on repeaters."The Oregonian. December 01, 2006.