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Senate Panel Votes to Crack Down on Internet Loans

Michael Pope

In Richmond, lawmakers are cracking down on internet loans. 

Right now, the world of internet loans is a Wild West where anything goes. That might be ending soon now that a Senate panel has approved a bill that would force internet lenders to follow the same rules that consumer finance companies have to follow. Democratic Senator Scott Surovell of Fairfax County introduced the bill.

“You have companies from out of state and other countries and Indian tribes lending people money at four hundred, six hundred, five thousand percent interest rates in the state of Virginia. And I think most people find that offensive whether you are a Democrat or a Republican.”

Jay Speer of the Virginia Poverty Law Center says the bill will provide some much needed regulation to an industry that takes advantage of a loophole in the law. 

“All we were really asking for was a clarification to the law so that it would be clear that the attorney general’s office can go after these internet lenders that are not following our law.”

If the bill passes the full Senate and the House, internet loans under $2,500 would be limited to 36 percent interest.

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