Dear Governor Rendell,
We the undersigned applaud your comments regarding the harmful effects payday
lending has on Pennsylvania consumers. However, we are asking for more than a pledge
to sign legislation banning payday lending; we are asking for you to use your leadership
to help end the predatory aspects of this industry. This is especially needed given your
support for HB 1478 which is opposed by the Commonwealth’s leading consumer
groups.
HB 1478, sponsored by Rep. Chris Ross, does very little to address the pernicious
aspects of payday lending. It “regulates” the industry on the periphery, but it will not
have an effect on the predatory nature of the practice. HB 1478: 1) authorizes egregious
interest rates, 2) allows lenders to secure repayment through what are essentially bad
checks, 3) its “cooling off” period is triggered too late (and lasts for too short a time) to
prevent the corrosive cycles of perpetual debt, 4) it doesn’t provide for an effective
installment repayment plan, and 5) it doesn’t prohibit lenders from lending to borrowers
they know can’t repay the loan.
As you expressed in your December 22, 2005, letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer,
“It’s unacceptable for corrupt businesses to prey on our most vulnerable residents who
are desperately trying to make ends meet. We need to make it tougher for this industry to
rob our hard working families of their dreams and their dignity.” HB 1478 does not
make it tougher for the payday lending industry; it opens all of our neighborhoods to its
predatory effects.
We ask for your support on SB 101, which would regulate the industry in the
most appropriate way: closing the loophole which allows payday lenders to avoid
existing small loan laws. We ask that you meet with Senate leadership to urge them to
pass SB 101 and to put the full weight of the Governor’s office behind this effort. We
ask that you make a commitment to veto HB 1478 if it reaches your desk. We need your
leadership to help legislators understand that the only meaningful regulation is regulation
that will curb the predatory nature of payday lending.
Thank you,
Jim Swoyer
PennPIRG
(717) 230-9710
swoyer@pennpirg.org
Irv Ackelsberg
Community Legal Services
Law Center North Central
3638 North Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19140
William Belt
President
Allegheny County ACORN
Carolyn L. Carter
Attorney
Gettysburg, PA
Donald B. Cheetham 3rd
Attorney
Berwyn, PA
Patrick Cicero
Attorney
Harrisburg, PA
Pat Eiding
President
Philadelphia Council, AFL-CIO
(215) 665-9800
Carol Goertzel
CEO & President
PathWaysPA
Joseph K. Goldberg
Attorney
Harrisburg, PA
Fred Griesbach
State Director
AARP Pennsylvania
Dan Haller
227 Hazel Dr
Pittsburgh, PA 15228
Patricia Hasson
President
CCCS of Delaware Valley
Lance Haver,
Director of Consumer Affairs,
City of Philadelphia
Alan L. Jennings
Executive Director
Community Action Committee of the
Lehigh Valley, Inc.
Bethlehem
K. Tucker Landon
Attorney
Jim Thorpe, PA
Donald Marritz
Attorney
Gettysburg,Pa.
Howard Miskey
Attorney
Lebanon, PA
Carl Mollica
Attorney
Huntingdon, PA
John L. Perry, Esq.
Camp Hill, PA
The Rev. Sandra L. Strauss
Director of Public Advocacy
Pennsylvania Council of
Churches
Evelyn Warner
President
Ambler Chapter NAACP
520 Shearer Street
North Wales, PA 19454
Karen Wilson
Director
Greater Philadelphia Coalition
Against Hunger
