Congress repeals Trump-era regulations on payday lenders

NEW YORK (AP) — Congress on Thursday overturned a set of regulations enacted in the final days of the Trump administration that effectively allowed payday lenders to avoid state laws capping interest rates.

The House voted 218-208 to overturn the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s payday lending regulations, with one Republican voting with Democrats.

Thursday’s vote to overturn the OCC’s “true lender rules” marked the first time Democrats in Congress successfully overturned regulations using the Congressional Review Act.

The act was enacted in the mid-1990s and gives Congress the authority to overrule federal agency rules and regulations with a simple majority vote in the House and Senate. Its powers are limited to a certain period after an agency finalizes its regulations, usually around 60 legislative days.

The Senate voted 52-47 to overturn the OCC rules on May 11. The bill now goes to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it.

By overturning the Trump administration rule enacted in late 2020, Democrats aimed to stem a payday lender practice that critics had dubbed a “rent-a-bank” scheme.

While payday lenders are regulated at the state level, the payday lender would partner with a bank with a national banking charter when making high-cost installment loans. Because a national bank is not based in any one state, it is not subject to individual state usury laws.

“State interest rate limits are the simplest way to stop predatory lending, and the OCC’s rules would have completely bypassed them,” said Lauren Saunders, associate director at the National Consumer Law Center, a consumer advocacy group.