As members of the Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network, you are likely already aware of the negative effects that high-cost loan products have had on our communities and our neighbors.
A large body of research demonstrates that high-cost loans create a long-term debt trap that drains consumers' bank accounts and causes significant financial harm, including delinquency and default, overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees, increased difficulty paying mortgages, rent, and other bills, loss of checking accounts and bankruptcy. Indiana currently has one of the highest bankruptcy rates in the country. A new report from the National Consumer Law Center found that in states that have implemented a rate cap, former payday borrowers feel they are better off without these loans.
Our goal for the 2019 new year is to stop the debt trap once and for all, but that goal isn't possible without your help. As we venture into the 2019 legislative session, we plan to present the Indiana General Assembly with a sign-on letter demonstrating statewide support for a 36 percent APR cap on small loans in Indiana. Click here to sign onto the letter and to make your voice heard in the Statehouse.
If passed, legislation enacting a 36 percent APR cap on payday loans would make Indiana the 17th state to offer consumers a strong rate cap – the most effective protection possible against both storefront and online predatory lending.
Want to do more?
For more information, please contact Erin Macey, Policy Analyst at Indiana Institute for Working Families, Kathleen Lara, Policy Director at Prosperity Indiana, or Logan Charlesworth, Indiana Assets and Opportunity Network Manager.
