Tuesday, April 05, 2005

The Loan Shark Prevention Act

David Sirota, fellow at the Center for American Progress, has a post detailing The Loan Shark Prevention Act that has been introduced by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). The bill does three things.

1. Cap interest rates at 8% above what the IRS charges income tax deadbeats. Currently, the cap would be 14%, the same level that the Senate approved by a 74-19 vote in an amendment offered by Sen. Al D’Amato in 1991.

2. Cap bank and credit card fees at $15, instead of the astronomical late fees that are now regularly assessed.

3. Ban the credit card interest rate bait and switch. Credit card companies are doubling or tripling the interest rates of consumers even though they always paid their credit card bills on-time. The reason? Maybe they were one day late on a student loan payment three years ago. Maybe they took out another loan for a medical emergency. Or maybe they did nothing wrong at all. Today, credit card companies can raise rates for any time for any reason. This bill would restrict that.
They all sound like perfectlly reasonable ideas, meaning that they have zero chance of passing...

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