Now We Know Why Politicians Were Pushing Disastrous “Florida Model” of Payday Lending So Hard

 

Remember When Florida Politicians Were Pushing the Disastrous “Florida Model” of Payday Lending? Now We Know Why!

It turns out, the Florida-based MacKechnie family and their payday lending company Amscot Financial — which contributed almost $1 million to Florida politicians since 2009 — were planning on cashing in with a national expansion if the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) adopted the disastrous “Florida model” of payday lending.

MACKECHNIE SAID THAT IF THE CFPB USED THE FLORIDA MODEL, AMSCOT WOULD CONSIDER A NATIONAL EXPANSION

Mackechnie Said That If The CFPB Used The Florida Model For Regulation, Amscot Would “Consider Expanding Nationally.” “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is accepting feedback from consumer advocate groups, industry representatives, politicians and consumers before it makes a final decision in the fall. MacKechnie said that if federal regulations are scaled back to Florida’s level, the company would consider expanding nationally.” [Tampa Bay Times, “Are Payday Lenders Like Tampa-Based Amscot a Necessary Part of the Banking Industry?,” 7/22/16]

AMSCOT CONTRIBUTED ALMOST $1 MILLION TO FLORIDA POLITICIANS SINCE 2009…

Allied Progress Report: Amscot Contributed Almost $1 Million To Florida Politicians And Parties Since 2009. “Of the $2,556,457 given to Florida politicians and political parties by payday lenders since 2009, more than one-third of the money ($970,050) came from members of the Florida-based MacKechnie family and their payday lending company, Amscot Financial. In 1998 Amscot Financial plead guilty to civil racketeering charges and as part of the plea agreement stemming from these charges, the company’s founder, Ian MacKechnie, Sr., was banned for life from selling auto insurance in Florida.” [Allied Progress, “A Florida Plan: How The Payday Lending Industry Bought Florida’s Political Establishment,” 5/11/16]

…AND THE FLORIDA CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION SIGNED A LETTER TO THE CFPB CALLING FOR THE FLORIDA MODEL TO BE USED NATIONALLY

The Florida Congressional Delegation Wrote A Letter To The CFPB To “Include The Florida Model” As A Regulatory Framework. “In light of Florida’s success in this regard, in addition to the two pronged framework that you have established to implement debt trap prevention and debt trap protection, we implore you to include the Florida model as a third method. To ignore our experience, which has proven to encourage lending practices that are fair and transparent without restricting credit options, would do an immeasurable disservice to our constituents, many of whom rely on the availability of short-term and small dollar loans from regulated, licensed non-bank lenders to make ends meet. Eliminating such products from the market will almost certainly have the opposite effect of that intended by CFPB, forcing consumers to turn to more expensive alternatives and/or unlicensed lenders, many of which are out-of-state or offshore and beyond the reach of regulators.” [Florida Congressional Delegation Letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 4/30/15]

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