{"id":22076,"date":"2019-05-16T01:45:27","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T01:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/05\/16\/advocates-renew-push-for-protecting-troops-from-predatory-lenders\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:57:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:57:49","slug":"advocates-renew-push-for-protecting-troops-from-predatory-lenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2019\/05\/16\/advocates-renew-push-for-protecting-troops-from-predatory-lenders\/","title":{"rendered":"Advocates renew push for protecting troops from predatory lenders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Advocates from six military and veterans organizations renewed their push for a key federal consumer agency to resume monitoring lenders to protect service members and their families from predatory practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military and veteran groups<\/a> are concerned about what amounts to \u201cremoving the sentries from the guard tower,\u201dsaid Mike Saunders, director of military and consumer policy for the nonprofit Veterans Education Success, during a press conference held in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had been conducting supervisory examinations of payday lenders and others within their jurisdiction for compliance with the Military Lending Act. Among other things, the law limits interest charges to 36 percent annual percentage rate on most consumer loans to service members and their dependents. But last year, CFPB stopped these examinations, contending they don\u2019t have the clear authority to do them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe must get back to proactively ensuring predators are compliant with the Military Lending Act,\u201d said Jen Davis, government relations deputy director for the National Military Family Association. \u201cWe\u2019re calling on the federal government to fix this on behalf of the nation\u2019s military families.\u201d The Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, the Military Officers Association of America, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America were also represented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January, officials at CFPB asked for legislation<\/a> to clarify and provide the specific authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Military Lending Act of 2006, and the DoD regulations that implement that law, limit the maximum annual percentage rate to 36 percent on most consumer loans to active-duty military and their dependents, including application fees and certain other fees in the calculation. Generally, most loans\u2019 APR would be less than 36 percent, but loans with even higher interest rates, sometimes more than 300 percent, are still available to everyone else in the civilian community. Before the 2006 law was passed, military members were the targets of these predatory lenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe continue to wonder why, if CFPB has the authority to supervise for compliance with other federal consumer finance laws, why wouldn\u2019t they have authority to supervise for compliance with the Military Lending Act?\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t