The Talent-Nelson bill to limit interest rates on lending to soldiers to 36% just passed the House-Senate Conference. When the House and Senate come back to vote on the Defense Authorization bill, the cap will be in there and there can be no more amendments. The only choices are to vote yes or no.
Mark this day on your calendar: We’ve been talking about it here on Warren Reports for months. Congress finally said, at least in this limited circumstance, “Enough is enough.” Lenders cannot prey on military families with tricky credit instruments that can result in interest rates in the 400% range. Credit issuers everywhere from payday lenders to credit card companies to home mortgage issuers felt a slight disturbance in the force.
The consumer groups and military support groups worked hard, so there is plenty of credit to spread around. Even so, the Center for Responsible Lending deserves extra special credit for pulling together data and pushing on this issue for a very long time. Their hard work really paid off.
It has been a long time since I’ve had the chance to celebrate some pro-middle-class legislation. I’m ready to raise a glass!
