News Story (Florida)
Nicholas Nehamas
Miami Herald
June 3, 2015
Full story
Tags: Consumer Protection, Predatory Lending
Organizations mentioned/involved: Dade Legal Aid (DLA), Legal Aid Service of Broward County (FL)
DETAILS
More than twenty groups signed the letter including the United Way of Florida, the Florida Consumer Action Network, the Legal Aid Service of Broward County and Dade Legal Aid.
Payday loans are a form of high-interest credit usually taken out by low-income people who aren’t able to borrow from traditional banks. Many consumers access the loans online. Critics say the loans can be predatory.
In April, all but one member of Florida’s House delegation signed a letter to the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau criticizing new, more restrictive rules that the agency had proposed for payday lenders. The legislators urged regulators to instead model their reforms on Florida’s payday lending laws, which they said protect consumers from borrowing too often or paying exorbitant fees.
But the consumer advocates said state laws are not strong enough to protect Floridians from falling into a never-ending “debt trap” in which they are compelled to take out a new loan to pay back the old one.