July 23, 2009
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News: Protestors Want Usury Laws Back
Protesters took to the sidewalks on July 22nd in major cities around the globe including Washington, Chicago, New York, Boston, Durham, NC, and London speaking out against federally chartered credit card companies and demanding they bring back usury laws. The Metro Industrial Areas Foundation organized the protest which included a number of interfaith organizations including the Washington Interfaith Network and Action in Montgomery. In Boston, the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization consisting of a group of clergy led 40 people in a protest outside the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and Bank of America's Boston headquarters, calling for an end to the outrageously high credit card and loan interest rates. Protesters are asking for a 10% interest rate cap on credit card accounts as well as caps for other loans.
A large number of states have passed laws that cap credit interest rates; however, federally chartered credit card companies and banks do fall under the jurisdiction of state law. These major lenders that have been exempt from state laws since 1980 have arbitrarily and unfairly raised interest rates to nearly 30% in some circumstances. The recent credit card reform bill signed by President Obama is aimed at restricting these practices, however, is not scheduled to become effective until February, 2010. Meanwhile, lenders have taken advantage of the nine month waiting period to trample Americans into a state of despair.
Protest organizers have also sent letters to the nation's top credit card companies including Wachovia/Wells Fargo, Citibank, Bank of American, Capital One, Discover, and JPMorgan/WaMu asking for a meeting with chief executives of the organizations to discuss the matter. In Boston, the Reverend Hurmon Hamilton of the Roxbury Presbyterian Church sent letters to the Federal Reserve and Bank of America. To Hamilton's surprise, later in the day, a representative of the Boston Federal Reserve notified him to arrange a meeting with the agency's President, Eric S. Rosengren. The time and date of the meeting was not released.