As we mentioned earlier this week, two federal regulators have released proposed rules that would put an end to the worst practices of payday lending by banks. We need to let regulators know that we support their changes!Comments are due next week Thursday, May 30. There are two ways you can make your voice heard on this issue.

Submit your own comments! You can use our sample letter or create your own. Comments need to be submitted to the FDIC and the OCC by the end of the day next Thursday. 

Thank you to everyone who received our email earlier this week and made calls to Sen. Kirk’s office urging him to support Richard Cordray as the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) recently decided to postpone the vote on Director Cordray’s confirmation until July. It will be crucial to gather as much support for Cordray as possible between now and July.

We will be following up with next steps for how you can communicate with Sen. Kirk about the importance of confirming Cordray. In the meantime, please continue to call his office and let him know why we need a strong leader at the head of the CFPB.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced plans to hold a vote on Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) director Richard Cordray’s confirmation. It’s no surprise that some Senators—including Illinois’ Mark Kirk—are threatening to filibuster the vote. The vote to overcome the filibuster will happen tomorrow.

For almost two years, the CFPB has protected consumers from dangerous financial products and returned millions of dollars to those who were victimized by them. Yet these Senators are willing to leave consumers more vulnerable to predatory products not because they have issues with Cordray, but because of objections to the structure of the agency.

Last month fair lending advocates cheered when the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation proposed new guidance that would require banks under their supervision that offer bank payday or deposit advance products to comply with traditional safe and sound lending practices such as lending only after conducting proper underwriting and considering the borrower's ability to repay the loan.

The proposed rules are the culmination of hard work of advocates across the country at the local, state, and federal level. They could prevent millions of consumers from entering a debt trap, saving them thousands of dollars each year. But they also demonstrate a larger point: federal regulators can do great things when given effective leadership.