Please consider contacting your representatives to show your support for House Bill 444 introduced by Representative Johnny Bell. It will create a data base to track and monitor who uses check cashing businesses. More important, though are two amendments to the bill that would place a 36% rate cap on pay day loans, which is the same rate in place now for loans to members of the armed forces and their families. The bill would also put limits in place similar to the legislation passed last year in Ohio. We hear stories from families in Kentucky who have borrowed $300, only to see it turn into a debt trap that eventually takes over $2,000 to pay off. Research shows that 90% of pay day lending profits leave the state.
The 23 Community Action Agencies in Kentucky are working with the Kentucky Coalition for Responsible Lending, AARP, Kentucky Association of County Officials (KACo), Metro United Way, Kentucky Youth Advocates, Kentucky Domestic Violence Association and others to get this important legislation passed.
It is time to stop the all too common practice of payday lenders charging as high as 390% APR for loans (and no, that is not a typo). Please contact your state representative at 800-372-7181 or 502-564-8100 and ask them to vote yes on house Floor Amendments 1 & 2.
