Since the election of President Trump in 2016, efforts to crack down on predatory lending in Washington have all but ended. That’s causing a fair amount of concern among people who oppose high interest rates.
A group of activists dressed up as loan sharks conducted a mock press conference in front of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week in Washington. It was just a block from the White House. But it might as well have been on the other side of the planet from what Trump's critics say are his priorities.
“This is a modern day slavery.”
That’s Congressman Don Beyer, a Democrat from Alexandria. He was part of a crowd that chased the loan sharks away and took over the press conference.
“I represent Virginia, which is the East Coast capitol of predatory lending. But Virginia is also the state that has the motto Sic Semper Tyrannis. So please be confident the tyranny of Mick Mulvaney and of payday lenders will not stand.”
Mick Mulvaney is a former congressman who once drafted legislation to abolish the federal agency. That's the agency he now leads that was created in the wake of the global financial meltdown to protect consumers. Joe Valenti at the Center for American Progress says Mulvaney has been working to undermine the purpose of the bureau.
“He dropped cases against predatory lenders like World Acceptance Corporation, payday lenders like Golden Valley that were violating usury laws, an abusive debt collector for payday loans and more of these are on the way.”
A spokesman for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau declined to comment.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
