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Faith Leaders and Florida Lawmakers To Host News Conference Opposing Payday Lending Bill

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MEDIA ADVISORY

On Tuesday, February 27 at 11:00 a.m., clergy representing the Florida faith community will converge on the Capitol Building in Tallahassee to call on lawmakers to reject a payday loan expansion bill and instead to cap payday lending interest rates in the state, which are currently in the triple digits. The faith leaders will raise their voices on an issue that is at a critical impasse, as the payday lending bill, SB 920/HB 857, has moved quickly through several legislative committees. Representative Tracie Davis (D-Jacksonville) will join the faith leaders at the conference.

The bills would allow payday lenders to make larger, longer debt traps at over 200% annual interest, adding another tool for predatory lenders operating in Florida. Payday lenders already extract over $300 million per year from the pockets of low-income families, and over 80% of payday loans in Florida go to people stuck in more 7 or more loans in a year. SB 920/HB 857 is roundly opposed in the state by the AARP, NAACP, the Archbishop of Miami and many others.

WHEN: Tuesday, February 27, 2018, 11:00 a.m.

WHERE: Fourth floor Rotunda of the Florida Capitol, 400 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, Florida.

WHO:

  • Florida Rep. Tracie Davis, Jacksonville (D-13)
  • Rev. James T. Golden, AME Church of Florida
  • Ingrid Delgado, Florida Catholic Conference
  • Rev. Rachel Gunter Shapard, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida
  • Rev. Dr. Russell Meyer, Florida Council of Churches

For more information, contact Rev. Rachel Gunter Shapard at [email protected].

Faith Leaders Speak Out, Send Open Letter to Florida Lawmakers on High-Cost Payday Lending

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Lawmakers Should Listen and Put the Brakes on
Bill Expanding 200% Payday Lending in Florida

As Florida lawmakers move a bill legalizing a new 200% interest payday loan through legislative committees, faith leaders are urging them to kill the bill and get serious about reforming predatory lending in the state.
An open letter signed by 56 faith leaders from across the state, along with the AME Church of Florida (consisting of more than 400 churches), National Baptist Convention USA, Inc., Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and Ecumenical Poverty Initiative, asks lawmakers to stand up for Floridians and against predatory lenders by voting against SB 920/HB 857. That proposal would let Florida payday lenders make larger, more expensive loans in addition to those that already flood low-income communities in the state.
As described in the letter:
Predatory payday lenders cause serious damage to our communities. They target and exploit those in the most vulnerable situations by giving them high interest loans. These loans, which often carry triple-digit interest, trap borrowers in an unaffordable cycle of debt. Often these borrowers come to our churches and community services after payday lenders have already drained all their financial resources and crushed their spirits. This is detrimental to both the borrowers’ financial security, emotional and financial strength of families, and our ability to provide aid to our community. 
In a conference call this morning, several of those leaders spoke out against the bill, citing cases where members of their congregations had been caught in the debt trap of payday lending. On the call were Rev. Rachel Gunter Shapard, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida, Bishop Adam J. Richardson, 11th District of the AME Church, Florida, Pastor Lee Harris, Mt. Olive Primitive Baptist in Jacksonville, Elder Wayne Wright, who has been personally impacted by payday loans, Rev. Dr. Russell Meyer, Florida Council of Churches and Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton, 5th District of the CME Church, Florida.
The proposal would allow loans twice as large as the current limit, up to $1,000, with 60- to 90-day terms and annual interest rates over 200%. According to an analysis from the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, a borrower in debt for 60 days currently pays $110 in fees for $1,000, but would pay $214.68 under SB 920. And payday loans financially devastate borrowers because they are structured to keep them paying the triple-digit fees over months or years, whether they are short or longer-term loans.
A representative of Amscot, a large payday lender, testified at a committee hearing that his company needs the new law because the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a new rule impacting his business. That rule would require payday lenders to assess the ability of borrowers to repay their loans, something most lenders already do. The rule is not scheduled to take effect until August of 2019, and it is under attack by members of Congress and the new director of the Consumer Bureau, so it may not ever be put into place.
The FL NAACP, the AARP, the Florida Catholic Conference, National Association of Latino Community Asset Builders, Florida Prosperity Partnership, Florida Veterans for Common Sense, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida, UnidosUS, Florida Hispanic Unity, Florida Legal Services, League of Southeastern Credit Unions and many others are among the many groups who oppose legalizing a product that would snare borrowers in a debt trap even deeper and more damaging than traditional payday loans.