State measure would regulate payday loans to military staff: AB7 'sends clear message' on unscrupulous lending.CONTROVERSIAL payday loans targeting soldiers returning from Iraq are now in the crosshairs of politicians. Assemblyman as·sem·bly·man n. A man who is a member of a legislative assembly. assemblyman Noun pl -men a member of a legislative assembly Noun 1. Ted Lieu Ted Lieu has been a California State Assemblyman since September of 2005 when he was elected to the seat following the death of incumbent Mike Gordon. He is a member of the Democratic Party , a Torrance Democrat, introduced a bill, AB7, that would tighten state enforcement of 36-percent annual interest rate caps on loans to military personnel and their families, consistent with recent recommendations by the Department of Defense. Lieu is a reservist re·serv·ist n. A member of a military reserve. reservist Noun a member of a nation's military reserve Noun 1. in the Navy's Judge Advocate General judge advocate general (J.A.G.) n. a military officer who advises the government on courts-martial and administers the conduct of courts-martial. The officers who are judge advocates and counsel assigned to the accused come from the office of the judge advocate corps and is familiar with the issue having been both a prosecutor and a defense attorney in cases involving military debtors, who face penalties far stiffer than foreclosures, repossessions or dings on credit reports. Under military law failure to pay debts is considered a crime, and once personnel are charged with it they can't be deployed and may even face discharge. "This is a matter of national security," Lieu said. "AB7 is a very important bill because it sends a clear message that California will not tolerate anscrupulous lending practices that take advantage of our military personnel and their families." The payday loans have drawn attention as veterans have complained about the interest rates on the loans, and about being forced into a cycle of repeatedly drawing them--often to pay off a prior loan, sometimes with interest rates topping 400 percent. A recent study conducted by Stephen Graves, a professor at California State University, Northridge CSUN offers a variety of programs leading to bachelor's degrees in 61 fields and master's degrees in 42 fields. The university has over 150,000 alumni. It's also home to a summer musical theater/theater program known as TADW (TeenAge Drama Workshop) that leads teenagers through an , showed that members of the armed forces are easy prey because of low wages, limited financial experience and isolation at bases. So far Lieu's bill appears to be gaining support. It was approved by the Assembly Committee on Banking and Finance on a unanimous vote last week and sent on for further consideration. The area adjacent to Camp Pendleton has a large concentration of payday lenders, as does Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County. The bill also targets automobile loans, rent-to-own property packages and tax refund Tax refund Money back from the government when too much tax has been paid or withheld from a salary. anticipation loans. Staff reporter Jabulani Leffall can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 228, or at jleffall@labusinessjournal.com. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion