Deirdre Cummings
Legislative Director, MASSPIRG
617-747-4319
[email protected]
Report: Analysis of Payday Complaints Reveals Need for Stronger Federal Protections
Media Contacts
MASSPIRG EDUCATION FUND
Boston – Consumer complaints about payday loans to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) show a critical need for strengthening the agency’s proposed rule to rein in payday loans and other high-cost lending, according to a report released today by the MASSPIRG Education Fund.
“Our analysis of written complaints to the CFPB found significant evidence of the major problem with payday loans: borrowers can’t afford these loans and end up trapped in a cycle of debt. Ninety-one percent (91%) of written complaints were related to unaffordability,” said Deirdre Cummings, Consumer Program Director for MASSPIRG Education Fund.
Some key findings:
- Ninety-one percent (91%) of all written explanations showed signs of unaffordability, including abusive debt collection practices, bank account closures, long-term cycles of debt, and bank penalties like overdraft fees because of collection attempts.
- The database reveals problems with a full spectrum of predatory products and services, including storefronts and online lenders, short-term payday, long-term payday installment loans, and auto title loans.
- More than half (51%) of the payday complaints were submitted about just 15 companies. The remainder of complaints were spread across 626 companies.
- The top five most complained about companies in the payday categories were Enova International (doing business as CashNetUSA and NetCredit), Delbert Services, CNG Financial Corporation (doing business as Check ‘n Go), CashCall, and ACE Cash Express.
- Consumers submitted nearly 10,000 complaints in the payday loan categories of the database in two and a half years. Over 1,600 complaints included written explanations of problem since last March when the CFPB started allowing consumers to share their stories publicly.
- The two largest types of problems under the payday loan categories were with “communication tactics” and “fees or interest that were not expected.” These two issues made up about 18% of all complaints each.
Payday lenders offer short-term high-cost loans at interest rates averaging 391% APR, in the 36 states that allow them. Consumers must pay back the loan in a short period of time – usually 2 weeks. Far too many borrowers can’t afford these rates but are given the loans anyway — which sets them up to take out multiple loans after the first one and fall into a debt trap. The lender holds an uncashed check as collateral.
According to CFPB research, payday lenders make 75% of their fees from borrowers stuck in more than 10 loans a year. Massachusetts is one of fourteen states and the District of Columbia which has effectively banned payday loans by subjecting them to low usury ceilings or capped interest rates.
In June, the CFPB proposed a rule that takes an historic step by requiring, for the first time, that payday, auto title, and other high-cost installment lenders determine whether customers can afford to repay loans with enough money left over to cover normal expenses without re-borrowing. However, as currently proposed, payday lenders will be exempt from this ability-to-repay requirement for up to six loans a year per customer.
“To truly protect consumers from the debt trap, it will be important for the CFPB ensure the national rules will not undermine strong state laws like the interest rates caps here in Massachusetts. And as importantly, the CFPB must eliminate the exceptions and loopholes like the 6 loan exception, in what is a well-thought-out proposal. We encourage the public, local and state leaders to submit comments by October 7th to the CFPB about strengthening the rule before it is finalized,” urged Cummings.
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MASSPIRG Education Fund works to protect consumers and promote good government. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public, and offer meaningful opportunities for civic participation. www.MASSPIRGEDUCATIONFUND.org
Download the report, “Predatory Loans & Predatory Loan Complaints: The CFPB’s Consumer Complaint Database Shows the Need to Stop Payday Debt Traps.” [click here]
Massachusetts Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation information on Pay Day Laws in Massachusetts.
This is the seventh report in a series from the MASSPIRG Education Fund that analyzes complaints in the CFPB’s public Consumer Complaint Database.
