Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network
Asset Building For Low- and Moderate-Income Hoosiers

News

ACTION ALERT: Bills Harmful to Hoosier Consumers to Receive Hearings

The Network has received word the Senate Insurance and Financial Institutions Committee will hold a hearing on SB 587 on Wednesday, February 13, and the Senate Commerce and Technology Committee will likely hold a hearing on SB 613 on Thursday, February 21.

The Network does not support either bill and strongly believes both would harm Hoosier consumers. When paired with the CFPB's recent decision to gut the agency’s own consumer protections against predatory payday lenders, we believe Hoosier consumers are in grave danger.

The low-lights include:

SB 587

  • Dismantling Indiana's current loansharking cap of 72 percent APR, essentially allowing unrestricted payday loans with APRs even higher than current payday products.

  • Incentivizing loan flipping with non-refundable, front-loaded fees. 

  • Permitting ANY consumer loan, including car loans, second mortgages, etc., (does not include first-lien mortgages) to charge 36 percent interest. Current law restricts 36 percent to loans of $2000 or less.

SB 613

  • Creating a new product for payday lenders outside our criminal loansharking cap, allowing them to offer much larger loans – up to $1800 - with no protections at the similarly high APRs. 

  • Providing payday lenders with access to borrowers' bank accounts, giving lenders little incentive to ensure a borrowers' ability to repay the loan and meet other expenses. 

We need your voice to be heard in the Statehouse.

Here's how you can help:

  • If you have not done so already, click here to express your support for a 36 percent APR cap on payday loans in Indiana.

  • Urge the Senate Insurance and Financial Institutions Committee to vote on SB 104, a bill that would cap small-dollar, short-term loans at 36 percent APR. Click here to find your lawmaker and access their contact information.

  • Ask your lawmaker to vote "no" on SB 587 and SB 613.

To learn more about the hearings or about consumer financial protections in Indiana, contact Logan Charlesworth, Network Manager, Kathleen Lara, Prosperity Indiana Policy Director, or Erin Macey, Indiana Institute for Working Families Senior Policy Analyst. 

Prosperity Indiana