Press Releases
FDIC/OCC Proposals Favoring High-Cost Lenders Puts Deep South Families at Risk
November 19th, 2019
This week, the OCC and FDIC announced proposals that will encourage high-cost lenders to partner with banks to enable high-cost lending and undermine state law protections. For the reasons below, HOPE is concerned that these proposals will deepen the financial insecurity of people in the Deep South.
Bill Bynum, CEO, Hope Enterprise Corporation/Hope Credit Union: “The OCC and FDIC proposals are deeply troubling. Here in the Deep South, we already see a high prevalence of predatory lending that targets the elderly, the poor and others who are most vulnerable. The federal regulators’ proposal will encourage high-cost lenders to circumvent state interest rate limits, and subject even more hard-working people to the dangerous burden of debt trap loans.”
Diane Standaert, Director, Hope Policy Institute: “These proposals risk stripping away millions of dollars a year from pocketbooks of people here in the Deep South. Rather than facilitating high-cost loans, OCC and FDIC should be doing more to ensure banks better serve our people and communities. It is even more troubling that the OCC and FDIC proposals come as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is separately considering a proposal to repeal protections for payday loans, car title loans, and other high-cost loans.”
