DoD seeks troop input on predatory lending

DoD seeks troop input on predatory lending
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jan 2, 2008 17:17:11 EST

The Defense Department is looking for suggestions about what additional steps could be taken to protect service members from problems with consumer loans.

In particular, defense officials want to know if there are particular hazards for service members and their families from installment loans that may have excessive fees and high interest rates, from credit cards that combine high fees with small credit limits, and from overdraft protection that includes high fees.

The Pentagon is seeking comments in response to a Senate Armed Services Committee request to determine whether Congress went far enough last year to protect troops by placing a 36 percent interest rate cap on short-term loans to service members.

In its June 5 report on the 2008 defense policy bill, the armed services committee said eliminating predatory lending practices that target service members is a “complex problem” that could involve more than the payday loans and other short-term loan operations directly affected by the interest-rate cap.

The Senate committee asked for a report by April 1 on what other regulatory or statutory changes in law might be needed to protect service members, which is what prompted the Defense Department to ask service members and the public for comment. The deadline for submitting comments and suggestions is Feb. 25.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/military_predatorylending_080102w/


uhc comment: 36 fucking percent? How are you supposed to pay it off?

http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2544

Nov. 14, 2007

Government Is Illegally Taking Money From Soldiers and Veterans Who Used Military Credit Cards, Lawsuit Alleges

Public Citizen Files Class Action on Behalf of Soldiers and Veterans Nationwide

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) is breaking the law by taking money from soldiers and veterans who have military credit card debts that were either improperly calculated, too old to collect or both, Public Citizen said today in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco.

Public Citizen, with San Francisco consumer lawyers Chandler Visher and Marie Appel, filed the suit on behalf of veteran Julius Briggs and a class of soldiers and veterans nationwide.

For years, the AAFES has offered credit cards, known as Military Star cards, to military personnel to purchase uniforms and other items from the stores it operates on military bases. If a service member is delinquent in paying a debt, the government has the right to deduct the money owed from the member’s government benefits or tax refunds. The government can add interest, penalties and administrative costs as permitted by the credit card contract or federal law.

AAFES, however, is not permitted by law to collect debts that have been outstanding for more than 10 years or amounts in excess of what the contract allows. In improperly collecting these debts, the AAFES has steadily appropriated millions of dollars from soldiers and veterans nationwide, Public Citizen says.

..snip

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/military_predatorylending_080102w

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They have some dynamic http links over at the rag. Sometimes they work, and sometimes the don't. :shrug: