On Tuesday House lawmakers passed four bills that will help Oregonians like Mike Grigsby hold onto more of their own money. The bills, which now head to the Senate, limit fees for cashing checks and put some additional limits on high-interest moneylenders.
Mike is one of the thousands of Oregonians who turn to storefront check cashers and moneylenders for basic financial services. Fees and interest for these services are very high.
Mike recently had a 6 percent service fee sliced off his unemployment check – a check virtually guaranteed to clear. Under HB 2202, which passed the House on Tuesday, cashing a government check such as a tax refund or Social Security check will cost 2 percent. The rate on paychecks will be set at a fair 3 percent.
Lawmakers also passed two bills that would extend a 36% interest cap to short-term car title lenders and Internet payday lenders. This would make the rules the same for all licensed short-term lenders. The next step is to extend those same rules to the other consumer lenders. Many high-interest lenders have taken refuge under the conventional lending license because the state does not limit interest rates for those lenders.
Today, however, help us celebrate! Last session, under different leadership, we couldn’t even get a public hearing. This session, House Democrats are making it clear that ending predatory lending is an important priority. Help us celebrate by sending a note of thanks!
CLICK HERE – to send a message
How they voted-All of the House Democrats and eight Republicans voted yes on the package of consumer financial protection bills.
CLICK HERE – to see the votes on HB 2202, the check-cashing bill
Payday Loan Fairness: [x] Yes, [] No
©2006 Our Oregon. All rights reserved. Photos by Leah Nash.