Soon after the New Jersey legislature passed a tough law aimed at controlling predatory lending, State Sens. John Adler (D., Camden) and Gerald Cardinale (R., Bergen) teamed up to sponsor a bill that weakened it.
Quoted With Edits From: Predatory lending is an issue in N.J. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Are lenders funneling in money to Adler's Campaign?
Ah, I see how it is. Adler and Cardinale came back to reality when they realized – after some reasonable discussion with lobbyists, which is the way things get done in America – that tighter controls would very likely restrict short term installment loans and other legitimate lenders that have a right to be in business. In much the same way, the people of New Jersey have every right to make their own financial decisions. They can choose how they deal with their money, and where they turn if they need a bit of reasonably priced assistance.
For Adler, however, it gets ugly. Since he’s running for Congress, his across-the-aisle Republican counterpart isn’t playing nice. Cardinale is claiming that Adler made the move to ease restrictions because installment loans lenders are funneling money into his campaign. How convenient: built-in attack ad opportunities!
The final version of the Adler-Cardinale bill does help consumers by reducing the amount charged by lenders. So long as the amount enables legitimate short term installment loans companies to stay in business, their right to profitable business remains intact and consumers’ right to the product when they want it or need it stands unsullied.
Discussion of Installment Loans News Break: Predatory lending is an issue in N.J.