Payday Predators Win in Court
Consumers Lose as 5th Circuit Delays Consumer Bureau Rule
Two groups representing the payday lending industry scored a major win last week as the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule that would have provided critical consumer protections.
Law360 has more on this story and the impact on consumers:
In a one-paragraph order issued late Thursday, a three-judge panel said the CFPB’s rule on payday loan collection practices must remain on hold while it hears an appeal from the Community Financial Services Association of America Ltd. and the Consumer Service Alliance of Texas.
The two groups are hoping to revive their effort to block the rule after their suit was rejected in August by U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel of Texas, who went on to set a roughly nine-month countdown for the CFPB to implement the long-delayed rule starting in June.
Consumers will now have to wait while a court case proceeds — meaning relief from debt trap lenders could be even further away.
At the heart of the rule were provisions imposing ability-to-repay underwriting standards on payday lenders, vehicle title lenders and other issuers of short-term, small-dollar credit. But those provisions, which were strongly opposed by industry groups, were repealed by Cordray’s Trump-appointed successor midway through the trade groups’ litigation, before ever taking effect.
The move comes just as a national report revealed the devastating impact of payday lending on major American cities.
Tennessee a National Leader in Predatory Lending | by Andy Spears | Oct, 2021 | Medium
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