LANSING, MI (AP)— A Michigan group has begun collecting signatures for a ballot proposal to limit interest and fees charged by payday lenders they say are trapping low-income borrowers in cycles of debt.
Michiganders for Fair Lending needs 340,000 valid voter signatures by June. If enough are gathered, the measure would go to the Legislature, where efforts to rein in payday loans have stalled. If lawmakers didn't act, the public would vote in November.
It would cap such loans known as “deferred presentment service transactions” at a 36-percent annual percentage rate. According to the group, they typically equal 370 percent now.
