Merkley announces fight against payday lenders

Portland Business Journal:

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley on Monday said he will introduce federal legislation to fight predatory payday lending.

Merkley was speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives when it passed the nation's tightest restrictions on brick-and-mortar payday lenders in 2007. The laws capped the interest rates lenders can charge on payday loans at 36 percent.

A story in the Business Journal last year reported that the restrictions led to increasing reliance on illegal online lenders that sometimes charge interest rates above 1,000 percent...

Read the full article here. Discuss below.

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