It took nine years to get payday lenders out of North Carolina. Now we face a dangerous threat that could set the stage to bring payday lending back to our state.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) – the federal regulator charged with assuring that financial services are fair – is preparing a new rule to rein in payday lending abuses. While this is a tremendous opportunity for opponents of payday lending in states where payday lending is allowed, it would be dangerous for states like North Carolina where payday lending is already illegal.
Consider adding your organization to the list of groups signing this letter to Richard Cordray, head of the CFPB. If you cannot sign on behalf of your faith community, please encourage your faith leaders to do so.
Along with the NC Council of Churches, faith communities and organizations that have signed on include:
Baptist Peace Fellowship, Charlotte
Caldwell Presbyterian Church, Charlotte
Church Women United, NC
Church Women United, Raleigh/Wake County
College Park Baptist Church, Greensboro
Episcopal Diocese of NC
Episcopal Diocese of Western NC
Habitat for Humanity of North Carolina and 29 local affiliates
Land of Sky United Church of Christ, Asheville
New Creation Community Presbyterian Church, Greensboro
St. John’s Baptist Church, Charlotte
United Methodist Church, North Carolina Conference
Wake Forest Baptist Church, Winston-Salem
Payday lending preys on our most vulnerable brothers and sisters and escalates economic injustice so that small initial loans lock borrowers into an overwhelming cycle of debt. Meanwhile, payday lenders desperately want to re-enter the North Carolina market. And a weak national rule could provide the opening payday lenders need to successfully argue that they should be allowed back in our state.
Please have your faith community join others in opposing this usurious and unjust practice.
