skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Feds Issue New Rule to Curb Payday Lending Abuses

play audio
Play

Friday, October 6, 2017   

PHOENIX – Consumer advocates are praising a new rule issued on Thursday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It requires payday lenders to start requires payday lenders to start verifying a borrower's ability to repay before rolling it over into a new loan.

The rule aims to prevent a situation where desperate people borrow more money just to repay prior loans, and get hit with fees that often exceed the amount of the original loan.

Diane Standaert, director of state policy at the Center for Responsible Lending, says this rule will curb some serious industry abuses.

"We know that the debt trap of repeat re-lending is the core of the payday lender and car-title lender business model," she says. "So, that's why this rule is a significant step forward in stopping the debt trap of unaffordable payday loans."

The new rule goes into effect in July 2019. It requires payday lenders to verify specifically that the person will be able to repay the loan and still cover living expenses and major financial obligations.

Payday loan industry supporters argue that this type of short-term loan offers credit and flexibility to people in financial distress.

In 2008, Arizonans approved a ballot measure that capped payday-loan interest rates at 36 percent - but Standaert says interest rates on car title loans weren't affected, so too many low-income families still end up having their vehicles repossessed.

"Unfortunately, Arizona still allows car-title loans at rates over 200 percent," she laments. "So, the legislature should move forward to cap the cost of car title loans while the CFPB rule may provide some relief around the unaffordable nature of those loans."

Conservatives in Congress are expected to try to repeal the rule using the Congressional Review Act before it even goes into effect. And in 2018, President Trump will get the chance to nominate a new head of the CFPB. Its current director, Richard Cordray, is a holdover from the Obama administration whose term ends next summer.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021