Published by admin on 20 Mar 2009
Gutierrez - Financial Institutions Chair Takes on Payday Lending Industry
Rep. Luis Gutierrez announcement on March 6th, 2009 to stand by new legislation on the payday lending industry will pre-empt existing states legislation on the industry according to a note from Community Financial Service Association (CSFA).
With the ominous headline “Payday’s Day of Reckoning,” Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill, has a major story today (log in required):
A House bill that could pare profits “to the bone” and perhaps decimate two-thirds of payday lenders nationwide is moving quickly through the House, roiling a controversial industry that to date has dodged major federal intervention into its business practices.
A House Democratic staffer said this week that proposed tweaks to the Truth in Lending Act recently introduced by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) are lawmakers’ best chance yet of forcing many high-rate, nondepository lenders out of business.
“We may have hit the sweet spot here, which is what we’ve tried to do for several years,” the Democratic aide said. “Ideally, we’d get people to go to depository institutions, banks or credit unions - they’re better regulated.”
Gutierrez, who heads the Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, introduced his legislation late last month and has scheduled an April 2 subcommittee hearing on the bill.
