The province is moving to protect vulnerable people from cash stores and collections agencies — but a local councillor calls the efforts "half-hearted." If passed, new legislation by the Ontario government promises to increase protections under the Payday Loans Act, Consumer Protection Act and the Collection and Debt Settlement Services Act. The aim is to provide safeguards such as a cap on the rates charged by cheque-cashing services, a grace period for repayment for customers of rent-to-own services and reasonable costs for optional insurance on installment loans. According to a survey of 500 Ontario payday loan users earlier this year, more than half of the borrowers surveyed said they are using the service for recurring expenses, not crisis situations. And 62 per cent of borrowers who defaulted on a loan took out another loan to cover the previous one — and almost one in five borrowers took out more than 10 loans in a year.
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