Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange on Thursday sent a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) opposing new regulations that would shutter the doors on payday lenders, the Washington Times reported on Friday. The agency has proposed new rules that seek to regulate payday lenders frequently used for banking services by minority groups, the poor and the elderly who need short-term emergency loans. Strange wrote that he is concerned about the proposals for storefront consumer lenders, pointing out that the CFPB itself has acknowledged that the new regulations would force some lenders to close. “These statements are worrying because recent research indicates that payday loans can play a beneficial role for some consumers,” he wrote. “Eliminating the product will not eliminate the demand for it.”
