The Shriver Brief : Poverty Law Commentary & Insights : Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law : Affordable Housing, Healthcare Reform

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Governor Quinn has closed a gaping loophole in the laws regulating payday loans by signing H.B. 537. Beginning in March, 2011 nearly every short-term credit product sold in the state of Illinois will be regulated.

Governor Quinn, Senator Lightford, Representative Lang, and the members of the Monsignor John Egan Campaign for Payday Loan Reform should be congratulated for the bill’s passage. In particular, the new regulations for loans with terms of six months or more will provide crucial protections for Illinois borrowers. However, the new law is not perfect. The 99% interest rate cap on some loans falls far short of the 36% that is considered safe for consumers. Even with the new protections, payday and consumer installment loans are still best used only as emergency loans of last resort.

As we have discussed in previous posts, H.B. 537 mandates significant reforms. Loans with terms of less than six months have rates capped at $15.50 per $100 borrowed every two weeks. Longer term loans over six months are capped at 99% APR for loans less than $4,000 and at 36% APR for loans more than $4,000. The rates will be calculated in accordance with federal Truth in Lending legislation that ensures lenders cannot use hidden fees to deceptively increase the cost of the loan.

Just as importantly, the new law prohibits balloon payments for all consumer credit products, regardless of the term. With a balloon payment structure, a borrower is typically not allowed to make a partial payment and must either pay the loan in its entirety at the end of the term or, as is often the case, roll the loan over and continue paying interest. Soon all short-term consumer loans in Illinois will allow borrowers to make equal payments over the term of the loan, paying down the principal over time, so that consumers are debt-free at the end of the term.

Lenders will also have to consider a consumer’s ability to repay the loan before extending credit. Monthly payments will be limited to between 22.5% and 25% of a borrower’s gross monthly income. Lending money without taking into account an individual’s ability to repay is a hallmark of predatory lending practices. Finally, and because these regulations will be meaningless if they are not enforced, H.B. 537 creates a consumer reporting service to ensure that lenders comply with all consumer protections.

The hard work of the Monsignor John Egan Campaign for Payday Loan Reform has finally paid off for Illinois consumers.

Hannah Weinberger-Divack co-authored this article.

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The key to limiting the damage caused by payday lenders is tough regulations. Yet, the reason that payday lenders have proliferated in the first place is that there is a large need for small dollar loans. So, in addition to regulating payday lending we also need to increase access to safe, affordable alternatives. Expanding and promoting such alternatives will help to alleviate the financial burden on low-income and low-asset families.

Alternative small dollar loans need to be more than just payday loans lite. Instead they must be structured to ensure that they are safe and affordable. Not all payday loan alternatives are created equal. A new study from the National Consumer Law Center, which evaluated over one hundred existing products, found that there is a wide range of product quality from genuine alternatives and ones that come close to products that are merely payday loans disguised in a different name. Credit unions dominate the genuine alternatives, but some banks are also offering beneficial products.

The authors argue for a real alternative to payday loans that will fill a need for convenient, emergency credit without leaving consumers in worse financial shape than they began. The study clarifies several myths regarding alternative payday loans:

• Just because a product is slightly cheaper does not make it good. A real alternative must be truly affordable.
  
• A small profit margin does not equal a good product. Loans should be judged by their impact on the borrower.
  
• An alternative does not need to be structured like a payday loan. In fact, the classic high fee structure and short repayment period cannot be replicated if we are to create a genuine alternative.
  
• Expensive loans should not be tolerated because there is consumer demand. In many cases payday loans delay tough choices needed to get one’s personal finances back on track and instead can serve to make a bad situation worse.
  

Instead the report suggests that alternatives should contain the following characteristics:

• A genuine payday loan alternative must have no greater than a 36% annual rate, including interest and fees.
  
• A minimum of 90 days loan repayment term in manageable installments.
  
• Must not employ a security method such as electronic access to a bank account that puts money for food and rent at risk. 

Hannah Weinberger-Divack coauthored this post.

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Illinois came one step closer to reforming its payday lending laws this week with the passage of H.B. 537. 

Currently, Illinois law has a toxic loophole as big as the fissure gushing at the bottom of the Gulf, which payday lenders have used to avoid consumer protections. Previous attempts to reform payday lending in 2005 imposed a cap on interest rates for loans less of than 120 days and restricted the number of loans a borrower could take out to two per year. Payday lenders evaded these restrictions by simply increasing the term of their loans. 

Payday loans are predatory short-term, high-interest loans that allow an individual to use a post-dated personal check as collateral. Payday lending is a growing problem; in the mid-1990s there were only a few hundred payday lending stores in the country, and by 2009 over 20,000 payday lending stores were opened in neighborhoods across the U.S.

Measures to limit the cycle of debt that traps many payday loan consumers are sorely needed. An informative and entertaining report from NPR’s Planet Money estimated that 60% of payday lenders’ revenue comes from repeat customers who continuously rollover their loans and rack up huge fees in the process.

On Wednesday, May 26th, a law to close this loophole, H.B. 537, was passed by both houses of the Illinois General Assembly with just one "no" vote. This piece of compromise legislation will overhaul two state laws, the Consumer Installment Loan Act and the Payday Loan Reform Act, to provide strong consumer protections for high-cost installment loans.

H.B. 537 would close the loophole because it:

• Ensures reasonable rates of 36% for installment loans over $4,000, 99% for small consumer loans, and maintains the current rate of no more than $15.50 per $100 per two weeks for payday loans. 
• Limits the cycle of debt by ensuring that lenders cannot make a payday loan to a consumer that would result in more than 180 days of continuous indebtedness. 
• Establishes a consumer reporting database to ensure that consumer protections for payday loans and small consumer loans are enforced.

Illinois has the chance to correct this mistake and finally rein in the predatory lenders. Consumers should urge Governor Quinn to immediately sign H.B. 537. 

This post was co-authored by Hannah Weinberger-Divack.

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