Understanding Payday Loans and Your Rights

Learn about your rights when it comes to payday loans & regulations set by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Understand how they work & charges.

Understanding Payday Loans and Your Rights

When you're considering a payday loan, or when you're returning one, it's important to understand how they work and know your rights. Payday loans are small loans subject to state regulation, and traditionally, states have limited small loan rates to 24 to 48 percent annual interest and require installment schedules. It is important to think about the costs you will pay if you want to take out a loan and how you will repay the loan. Before you apply for a payday loan, make sure you understand the possible charges you may have to pay.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a 21st century agency that helps consumer financial markets operate by making rules more effective, enforcing those rules consistently and fairly, and empowering consumers to take more control over their economic lives. We are the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a US government agency that ensures banks, lenders and other financial companies treat you fairly. The content of this page provides general information for the consumer. It is not legal advice or regulatory guidance.

The CFPB updates this information regularly. This information may include links or references to third-party resources or content. We do not endorse the third party or guarantee the accuracy of this third party's information. There may be other resources that also meet your needs.

Do you have problems with a financial product or service? If you have already tried to contact the company and you are still having a problem, you can file a complaint. Tell us about your problem, we will forward it to the company and work to get an answer, usually within 15 days. The FTC enforces a variety of laws to protect consumers in this area. The agency has filed many police actions against payday lenders for, among other things, engaging in deceptive or unfair advertising and billing practices in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act; failing to comply with the disclosure requirements of the Truth in Loans Act; violating the Credit Ban of the rule of practice against wage allocation clauses in contracts; condition credit on prior authorization of electronic funds transfers in violation of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act; and employ unfair, misleading and abusive debt collection practices. The FTC has also filed recent actions against fraudsters who contact consumers in an attempt to collect false “phantom payday loan” debts that consumers don't owe. In addition, the FTC has filed actions against companies that are located on Native American reserves in an attempt to evade state and federal consumer protection laws. To avoid usury (excessive and unreasonable interest rates), some jurisdictions limit the annual percentage rate (APR) that any lender, including payday lenders, can charge.

Some jurisdictions prohibit payday loans altogether, and some have very few restrictions on payday lenders. In the United States, rates on these loans were previously restricted in most states by the Uniform Small Loan Laws (USLL), with an APR of 360% to 400% generally the norm. The Sales Finance Agency Act, the Consumer Installment Loan Act and the Payday Loan Reform Act make changes to the expiration date of licenses under those laws and adds a fee to reinstate a license. Unfortunately, some payday loan transactions have employed deception and other illegal behaviors to take advantage of financially distressed consumers seeking these loans. While the problems associated with payday lending are recognized throughout the country, the oversight and supervision of payday lenders has been fragmented. While, at first glance, they may appear to offer credible payday loan alternatives, a further review of their loan disclosures reveals that, state-by-state, many of these innovators continue to offer products that can be classified as predatory. This bill limits the annual percentage rate (APR) for payday loans to 28%; requires a maturity date of more than 90 days from closing; prohibits payment of fees and interest over 60% of the principal amount; and requires that payments be made monthly and each payment does not exceed 25% of the loan amount original main. After a year of implementation, the number of payday loan shops operating in the city fell sharply. NCSL cannot provide guidance to citizens or businesses regarding payday lending laws and practices.

The minimum loan duration may be less than 91 days if the total monthly payment of the loan does not exceed an amount that is 6% of the borrower's verified gross monthly income or 7% of the borrower's verified net monthly income, whichever is greater. Requires applicants for a license or renewal of a license to operate a credit union, operate as a money transmitter, participate in the business of a sales finance agency, participate in a debt management service, grant installment loans to consumers, operate as a supplier of debt settlement or operate as a payday loan lender to provide a registered email address to the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Lenders are required to comply with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act regarding harassment or abuse, false or deceptive misrepresentation, and unfair practices when collecting a payday loan. Each page shows the maximum number of loans a consumer can have, limits on loan renewals, and requirements for extended repayment plans. And opponents of the Obama-era payday loan rule argue that the provisions on capacity to pay were too onerous and costly.

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