Hawaii Attorney General, 40 Other Attorney Generals, Urge Congress to Reject Bill Reducing Oversight of Payday Lenders

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REPORT FROM HAWAII STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL – Attorney General David Louie today joined 40 other attorneys general to urge Congress to oppose a bill preempting states’ authority to crackdown on predatory high cost, short-term lending practices.
In a joint letter, initiated by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller, state officials warned House Speaker John Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell about the negative effects of the Consumer Credit Access, Innovation and Modernization Act or H.R. 6139.

Many states have established their own framework of regulations to protect consumers from the risks associated with nonbank credit service providers. However, this legislation would allow these providers – including payday lenders, installment lenders, car title lenders, prepaid card issuers and check cashers – the ability to obtain a federal charter and sidestep these more stringent state laws.

The bill would allow lenders to extend credit to consumers if there is a reasonable basis for believing the consumers can repay the loans, but without putting specific standards in place. The legislation also exempts loans with terms of one year or less from the disclosure requirements of the Truth in Lending Act and substitutes a cost metric. By preempting state laws, the proposed legislation would impede state efforts to immediately and directly protect consumers from harm.

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This bill was assigned to a congressional committee which will consider the legislation and determine whether to send it to the full House or Senate.

Also signing onto the letter were attorneys general from Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Guam, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

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  1. GOP want to allocate more control to the states, healthcare, abortion, education, all in their slogan to a smaller Federal Government…………and here they are prepared to consider legislation to withdraw control of "payday" lenders FROM the states……….Please explain this to me. How more dysfunctional can this form of government become? Though it may not be the "form" of government that is flawed; it is more likely that the constituents that now compose the government are. Introduce a jobs bill, stimulate the economy putting people to work rejuvenating our infrastructure. Worry about "payday lending" when there are more Americans who have a Pay Day.

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