Jack Reed: “today I am reintroducing the Predatory Lending Elimination Act along with along with Senator Merkley, Senate Banking…”

“today I am reintroducing the Predatory Lending Elimination Act along with along with Senator Merkley, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Brown, and many of my colleagues. This important legislation would extend the bipartisan Military Lending Act's, MLA, projections for Active-Duty servicemembers and their families to all Americans by imposing a nationwide 36-percent cap on the annual percentage rate APR for most extensions of consumer credit. To The MLA was enacted on a bipartisan basis in 2006 to rein in payday and other unscrupulous lenders that targeted American troops with abusive and predatory loans. Unfortunately, the MLA does not protect veterans or Gold Star families from these exploitative practices. Our servicemembers and their families should not lose important consumer protections simply because they retire, separate from honorable service, or lose their loved ones. As such, our legislation would extend the MLA's protections to veterans and Gold Star families as well as ensure that all Americans are shielded from predatory loans. Hundreds of millions of American consumers could benefit from a 36- percent APR cap. In States that do not have such a cap, predatory lenders are permitted to offer loans with triple-digit APRs that trap individuals in cycles of debt. For instance, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that 80 percent of payday loans are rolled over or renewed within 2 weeks.…”