“..Labour MP Carol Beaumont is pushing a private member’s bill to limit interest rates charged by fringe lenders or “loan sharks” ..
.. which she says is the opening shot in a campaign against predatory lenders.
But Consumer Affairs Minister Heather Roy is sticking with advice from officials that interest rate caps have failed overseas and the Government will not support the bill.
Ms Beaumont has picked up colleague Charles Chauvel’s Credit Reform (Responsible Lending) Bill, which was introduced to Parliament last August.
The bill would allow maximum interest rates to be set, a power that doesn’t exist in New Zealand law.
While it does not define what constitutes the type of lending it is targeting, Ms Beaumont envisages the cap would still be effective at a level that would have no influence on bank or other mainstream lending.
The bill would also require lenders to “reasonably believe” the borrower will be able to repay the loan and seeks to limit the ability of loan sharks to recover more than they initially lent in the event of a default.
The bill is due to go before the House on April 28 and Ms Beaumont said she would be writing to all MPs seeking support for it..”
go to source/story>>Loan sharks targeted by Labour MP’s bill – Politics – NZ Herald News
