Update on the Monsignor Egan Campaign for Payday Loan Reform
As the 2010 legislative session begins, IABG will again lend its support to the ongoing efforts of the Monsignor Egan Campaign for Payday Loan Reform. The campaign has been working for over a decade to protect consumers from ensnaring, usurious features of payday loan products.
While many other states have forsaken detailed compromises with payday lenders and capped interest rates, the Egan Campaign continues to work with representatives from the industry to allow them to maintain its business model, yet eliminate certain features which trap borrowers and exploit their tenuous situation for profit.
The Egan Campaign is advocating the passage of SB655, a bill to eliminate the loophole of the Payday Loan Reform Act of 2005 and extend needed regulation to all high interest consumer installment loans. The bill creates a reasonable interest rate cap for consumer loans. It also requires all loans with an interest rate over 36% APR to be fully amortized, prohibits prepayment penalties, limits the number of times a loan can be rolled over and how many loans a single borrower can take out at a time.
The Campaign hosted its annual “Payday Loan Grinch Event” on December 17th. Stationed in front of an AmeriCash store in downtown Chicago, members of the Egan Campaign sang about the dangers and abuses of the payday lending industry to the tune of several famous Christmas carols. And, of course, the Grinch was in attendance.
If you have any questions about IABG’s involvement in the efforts to regulate the payday lending industry or its partnership with the Egan Campaign, please contact Chris Giangreco at 312-870-4939 or cgiangreco@heartlandalliance.org.