U.S. PIRG Joins Groups Calling on Congress to Act on Payday Predators

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) joined Public Citizen in calling on Congress to take immediate action to empower the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to protect consumers from payday loan scams. The move comes in the wake of a Supreme Court decision in favor of payday predators. That decision was blasted by the current acting Chair of the FTC.

U.S. PIRG’s Senior Director for Federal Consumer Programs Ed Mierzwinski released the following statement:

“Today’s Supreme Court decision was widely expected but that doesn’t make it any less disappointing — or dangerous — for U.S. consumers. In response, Congress must act with urgency to protect Americans by restoring the FTC’s power to get money back from unscrupulous companies and people such as convicted payday lender Scott Tucker, who challenged the FTC’s authority in this case. Disappointingly, this ruling both harms the victims of his illegal schemes and leaves the door open for other bad actors to follow his lead without fear of serious financial repercussions.”

U.S. PIRG’s comments from Mierzwinski echoed the sentiments expressed by Public Citizen:

“Today’s decision will make it much harder for the FTC to do its job of protecting consumers and will embolden corporate wrongdoers. Under the Court’s ruling, in many cases, the FTC will only be able to force corporations that rip off consumers to pay them back if the agency had previously told them to stop. Corporate scamsters, flim-flam artists, swindlers, cheats, and others don’t deserve a warning before being held accountable.”

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