Illinois Senator Durbin Proposes Cap on Consumer Credit Interest Rate
A longtime champion of bankruptcy reform, Illinois Senator Richard Durbin has proposed a new bill that would create a national interest rate cap on consumer credit. Durbin's plan would eliminate the shockingly high interest rates that some consumers find themselves being forced to pay for consumer loans like payday loans, which can come with interest rates in excess of 300% in extreme cases!
Currently, the cap for such loans on military personnel and their families is at 36%—the bill would simply apply this cap to all consumers. While it is not certain that Durbin will be able to drum up support for this legislation—a Durbin proposal to allow judges to rework the terms of mortgage loans in bankruptcy proceedings failed recently—his latest offering shows that some lawmakers are beginning to take the economic downturn seriously and find ways to make life easier for consumers during this time.
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