Inside Proposed Military Payday Loan Bill
By J.J. CameronPayday Loan Writer
The movement to regulate military payday loans may be taking place in Washington, D.C., but that hasn't stopped its affects from being felt in California.
As The Daily Breeze reports, those involved in the battle area. Appealing to the Legislature's wartime patriotism and sympathy for soldiers trapped in a cycle of debt. They have help from Torrance Assemblyman Ted Lieu.
Lieu is pushing legislation to protect military families from being preyed upon by these allegedly cheap payday loan companies that often charge more than 400 percent annual interest.
"The military doesn't often come to the state Capitol to ask for help. They are doing that now in a time of war and I ask that we give them that help," said Lieu, a Democrat and former Air Force attorney who remains on reserve duty.
While Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has not taken a position on the Assembly Bill 1965, spokesman Bill Maile said "the governor strongly supports efforts to increase protections for military personnel against predatory lenders."
We all do. Here's what the proposted bill would include:
- A 36 percent cap on the interest rate at of a military payday loan.
- A ban on ALL payday loan companies from using military insignias in advertising and from implying in advertising that they are endorsed by the armed forces.
- The prohibition of interest from accumulating when military personnel are deployed overseas, such as in Iraq or Afghanistan.
- The borrower also would have 30 days to start repaying the regular or faxless payday loan after returning to a U.S. base.
As the Department of Defense and the Pentagon take aim at this issue, hope is strong for the payday advance bill to pass.
