Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Missouri Senator Jim Talent hates military payday loans. He sees them as preying on our armed forces, negatively affecting their readiness for battle.

As his bill heads to Congress, Talent headed out to VFW Post 5896 in Farmington this week, giving a speech on the issue to citizens regarding the use of such harmful pay day loans.

Payday lenders are jeopardizing national security by trapping military families into outrageous interest rates that send families into debt, U.S. Senator Jim Talent said Thursday during a visit to VFW Post 5896 in Farmington.

The U.S. senator, who has cosponsored an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill that would limit the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) that payday lenders can charge soldiers and their spouses for a loan, said:

“Thousands of service men and women can't get security clearance because of the payday loans,” Talent said. “Fifty-four hundred sailors and Marines have lost their security clearance, mostly because of financial reasons."

Talent said he would like to pass a “predatory lending” measure that would address payday loans for nonmilitary persons as well. For now, however, his proposed amendment is part of a military defense bill; therfore, he could only focus only on the impact on the military.

That impact, he said, is jeopardizing national security.

“The Department of Defense has even said that service member debt resulting from predatory practices directly impacts troop readiness,” the senator continued. “We have to step in and stop these predatory lenders from making a quick buck at the expense of the livelihood and future of those defending our freedom.”

Talent said that a coalition of more than 70 veterans, civil rights and consumer organizations support his bipartisan amendment regarding faxless payday loans and similar resources. The bill would not affect “credible” lending institutions that assign reasonable interest rates, he added.

Missouri has a relatively large number and high density of payday advance lenders around Fort Leonard Wood in Pulaski County, Talent pointed out. He said that St. Robert, a small town near the base has only 5,200 residents, but there are eight payday lenders in town.

“This predatory lending is a curse everywhere,” he said. “The problem is growing.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 15th, 2006 at 6:22 am and is filed under Missouri.