POLITIFACT: Claim That Florida’s Payday Law Is ‘Stronger Than Almost Any Other State’ Is False
This just in… POLITIFACT has rated the oft-used claim by Florida’s congressional delegation that the Sunshine State’s payday lending laws are ‘stronger than almost any other state’ as FALSE.
“Consumer groups have attacked Florida members of Congress, including Patrick Murphy, for defending a payday lending bill that they say traps the poor in a cycle of debt.
Murphy, a Democrat who represents the Treasure Coast and is running for U.S. Senate, disagrees with those consumer advocates.
‘The regulations on the (payday lending) industry are some of the strongest here in Florida, stronger than almost any other state,’ Murphy said in a conference call with reporters April 6.”
[…]
“Consumer advocates, Pew researchers and the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have several criticisms of Florida’s law, including the high interest rate. Pew, an independent organization, says that Colorado has the best model law in the country. The Center for Responsible Lending points to 14 states — not including Florida — that cap interest rates at 36 percent as a better practice.
There are ways in which Florida’s payday law is better than some other states, but there is not evidence that it’s stronger than almost any other state.
We rate this claim False.”