Arise Citizens’ Policy Project executive director Kimble Forrister issued the following statement Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017, after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a new federal rule on payday and auto title loans:

“High-cost payday and title loans have sent far too many Alabamians spiraling into a long-term cycle of debt. The CFPB’s new rule is a welcome move to protect struggling families from getting stuck in deep debt. The requirement for lenders to verify borrowers’ ability to repay before lending to them is an important, common-sense step to protect consumers.

“The CFPB rule is good news, but it’s far from a cure-all. The rule will not reduce the extremely high annual interest rates that Alabama allows on short-term loans: up to 456 percent a year for payday loans, and up to 300 percent a year for title loans. The new safeguards also don’t apply to many high-cost installment loans.

“Alabama needs to build on these new federal protections by capping interest rates at a reasonable level and ensuring borrowers have a reasonable amount of time to repay what they owe. These changes would be good for consumers and good for Alabama’s economy.”