#txlege Bills We Support & Oppose: Fair Financial Services

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April 16, 2019 by Texas Appleseed

During the 86th Texas Legislature, Texas Appleseed supports legislation that will enhance consumer rights and promote fair market standards, including bills that do the following:

Bills We Support

Enforce State Rate Caps for Payday and Auto Title Loans

  • SB 110 (Menendez): Closes the payday loophole

Adopt City Payday and Auto Title Lending Reform Ordinances as State Law

  • HB 1258 (Craddick): Creates uniform regulatory structure by enacting city ordinances into law
  • HB 242 (Bernal): Creates uniform regulatory structure by enacting city ordinances into law

 Forty-five cities in Texas have adopted the unified ordinance. The ordinance sets basic affordability standards for payday and auto title loans.

Ensure Credit Service Organizations Comply with City Ordinances

  • SB 1761 (West): Ensures that payday and auto title loan businesses comply with city ordinances and adopts standards to improve the structure of the loans and strengthen protections for the military

Require Ability to Repay to be Considered for Payday and Auto Title Loans and Clear Contracts

  • HB 190 (Bernal): Requires an assessment on the ability to repay a loan by a CSO
  • HB 193 (Bernal): CSO contracts must be in the language negotiated

Expand Protections for Victims of Coerced Debt

  • SB 269 (Zaffirini)/HB 2697 (Meyer): Expands the definition of identity theft to include debts incurred through coercion in cases of financial abuse

 Our January 2019 report, Abuse by Credit, highlights the harmful impacts of identity theft on survivors of domestic violence. Also check out the press release.

Prevent Abuse of Criminal Justice System for Payday Loan and Rent-to-Own Collections

  • SB 182 (Miles)/HB 874 (Walle): Stops criminal charges for payday loan defaults
  • SB 183 (Miles)/HB 836 (Rosenthal): Stops criminal charges for rent-to-own defaults
  • HB 1202 (Collier): Stops criminal charges for rent-to-own defaults
  • HB 1797 (González): Stops criminal charges for rent-to-own defaults

Adopt Telemarketing and Debt Collection Protections

  • HB 447 (Turner): Restricts unsolicited telemarketing by CSOs
  • HB 996 (Collier): Relates to the collection of consumer debt by debt buyers

Bill Opposition

Furthermore, we oppose bills that expand high-cost lending and undo meaningful reform of payday and auto title loans, including efforts to:

  • Preempt local ordinances
  • Increase the cost of credit in Texas

One bill of particular concern is HB 3292 (Rep. Gutierrez), which would re-open a loophole closed 18 years ago. This new bill would allow for uncapped predatory quick cash products — similar to payday and auto title loans. These predatory products, called sale-leaseback, were offered in the 1990s at effective APRs of 700% and higher. If HB 3292 were to become law, these products would get around state consumer lending protections, protections in local ordinances, as well as Military Lending Act protections, putting hundreds of thousands of Texans at risk of financial harm.

Another bill of great concern is HB 3899 (Rep. Springer) — a broad preemption bill that would take away the power of mayors, city councils, and communities to address local issues, with only narrow zoning exceptions. It would preempt the payday and auto title loan ordinance protections, covering 10 million Texans, as well as a multitude of ordinances covering worker safety, nondiscrimination, scooter operations and other transportation alternatives, and a broad range of other areas.

Check our Core blog soon for an update on bills in our other Project areas. Follow us on Twitter for up-to-date details regarding hearings, bill movement and more.