INDUSTRY NEWS
A great starting point for
industry news:
News Articles about the Pawn Industry:
Click on the banner below for the latest Newsletter from The
National Pawnbrokers Association, which has links to all the Pawnbroker articles
and latest National news, (archived articles are available as well).
Monthly video summary of pawn industry news
( <10
minutes viewing time ) |
 |
National Pawnbrokers Association Urges Preservation of
FTC, State and Local Authority to Regulate Pawn Transactions in Financial
Regulatory Reform Legislation
March 2010
The National Pawnbrokers Association represents more than 2,400 pawnbrokers
across the United States. It is the only national trade association for
the industry. Our members proudly serve more than 20 million consumers
annually, offering convenient, local sources for small-dollar loans.
Pawn transactions are different from other consumer financial transactions in
five key areas:
-
Non-recourse transactions. No pawnbroker man take legal action against a
consumer to collect the funds advanced. The sole recourse is to assume
title to the tangible goods the consumer delivers into the pawnbroker's physical
possession at the time of the disbursement of the transaction proceeds.
-
Simple, straightforward transactions conducted face-to-face. Consumers
receive all of the terms and conditions about pawn transactions at the outset.
Terms cannot change during the course of the transaction.
-
No
signed promise or order, or written or electronic authorization to pay or allow
a debit to be made from a deposit account.
-
No
credit reports obtained before or made after pawn transactions.
-
Exceedingly rare consumer complaints about pawn transactions.
Pawnbrokers urge the preservation of FTC and State authority over their
industry.
-
Pawnbrokers are already heavily regulated at the federal, state and local
levels.
-
Thirteen federal laws and regulations apply to pawnbrokers and pawn
transactions, including relevant laws enumerated in the Print circulated by the
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs on November 16, 2009.
-
State laws and local ordinances comprehensively govern the terms and conditions
of pawn transactions .
-
Pawnbrokers are required to disclose all of the terms and conditions before
consummation of the transaction and each consumer gets a copy of all the terms
in a single, easy-to-read document.
-
Pawnbrokers do not export transaction terms across state lines as depository
institutions do.
Unlike other providers, pawnbrokers cannot pass new supervisory and
examination assessments along to customers.
-
Pawnbrokers already pay licensing fees to state and local governments.
-
Pawnbrokers cannot increase the amounts they are allowed to charge consumers
without explicit permission from the legislatures in each state in which they
operate.
-
Pawnbrokers cannot re-price their products to accommodate new regulatory
expenses, such as new federal supervision and examination assessments.
The Senate can help pawnbrokers continue to provide short-term, small-dollar,
safety-net credit to consumers.
-
Section 1024 of the Committee Print limits the authority of the proposed
Consumer Financial Protection Agency over providers of consumer financial
products and services already subject to robust regulatory regimes.
-
The pawn industry's long history of service to consumers, along with the
robustness of the federal, state and local regulatory regimes already governing
its unique non-recourse credit product, support a limited exception from the
authority of any free-standing Consumer Financial Protection Agency of of any
new division or agency operating within another federal agency with powers over
financial institutions.
-
The FTC's long history of working closely with non-depository lenders assures
that our small-business members will not get crushed in debates concerning huge
national banking organizations and the agency responsible for regulating
consumer protection and privacy.
-
Language proposed for Section 1024 of the Senate Committee print mirrors
language that the House of Representatives approved without objection in H.R.
4173 in December 2009.
How to Contact
your Senators and Representatives
1) Visit
www.votesmart.org and enter your ZIP CODE to find your Representatives and
all of their contact information.
|
