Join The Greenlight Advocacy and Lobbying Committee In Combatting Predatory Lending In Aotearoa
Household indebtedness in Aotearoa has reached unimaginable levels and it is crushing families across all income levels. A big contributor is debt repayments to lenders. The finance industry has been allowed to run wild through a lack of robust legislation and regulation.
But we have the perfect opportunity right now to do something about it!
Last Thursday, the Minister of Commerce tabled the Credit Contracts Legislation Amendment Bill in Parliament. Here is a link to the bill. And here's a link to FinCap's FAQ on the issue.
We think that the Bill and its amendments have got too many loopholes and there are crucial points missing that will be exploited by lenders that are known to load families with more debt than they can handle.
So we are planning to take action and we want your support!
Let’s work together to pressure the Minister to strengthen the bill by adding an interest rate cap (at very least).
Please keep your eye out for two events coming soon:
1) Workshop: Household Indebtedness - Financial Inclusion or Sad Indictment
To discuss the concerns around the level of Household indebtedness in Tairāwhiti & what we can do about it.
Held recently on Wednesday 8 May, we'll include a brief when one is made available.
2) Public Meeting: To be held after the Bill has been released to the public for Select Committee submissions.
Details to be confirmed but will likely be in mid-May.
In the meantime, you can support us by doing the following:
1) Let us know if you’re keen to work with us in any way to support this project.
2) Register you are interested if you’d like to attend the workshop and/or public meeting – for venue planning and catering.
3) Let us know if you have any clients that are willing to speak to the media – client stories are valuable to illustrate the hardship caused to our community. We need as many stories as we can get from people who have experienced payday lending. (See NewsHub link below for a local story).
4) Sign, share and spread the FinCap petition www.together.org.nz/loansharks
Below are two interesting links:
The first link is an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald on March 30 by the CEO of Consumer Action Law Centre and the communications manager of Financial Counselling Australia (similar to FinCap).
The second is a link to a NewsHub story that has a real-life example of the hardship that is caused by third-tier lenders and the tactics and tricks they use to draw people into high-interest credit contracts and loans. This features an interview with a local Mother.
