Leveling the Financial Playing Field for Everyone

Goodwill has provided job training and employment services since its founding more than 100 years ago.  That is the heart of what we do to help Americans get back on track in good times and bad.

However, there is more to what we do than helping someone who is out of work gain the skills they need to find a job.  A job is just the beginning because for a lot of us, financial skills and security are just as important, especially when times are tough.

For example, you’ve probably seen the commercials or storefronts for places offering loans on car titles, pay day loans and the like.  While not in every case, far too often these “loans” become little more than debt traps for many Americans facing a financial emergency. But there is some relief in sight.

A year ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued draft discussion points that would stop some of the worst practices of these types of lenders.  The idea is to ensure that loans would be structured to be repayable (yes, that seems obvious but many loans are structured to force people to “roll over” one loan into another then another).  Another part of the proposal would ensure a person’s ability to pay is considered.  The proposal would also limit how many loans a person could be offered in a year.

These rules would level the financial playing field for borrowers, and we expect that the CFPB will issue a proposed rule soon and when it does, the lenders who make these loans will fight them.

We will keep you posted when the proposed regulations come out so that we can support the CFPB’s actions.   In the meantime, join our Legislative Action Center and help us win the fight here in our nation’s capital.