I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1565 
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish a national usury rate 
for consumer credit transactions. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 24, 2015 
Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CAPUANO, Ms. CLARK 
of Massachusetts, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. GUTIE´RREZ, Mr. 
JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. MICHELLE 
LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. YAR-
MUTH, Mr. COHEN, Mr. ELLISON, and Ms. ESHOO) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish a national 
usury rate for consumer credit transactions. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Consumers 
from Unreasonable Credit Rates Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
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(1) attempts have been made to prohibit usu-
rious interest rates in America since colonial times; 
(2) at the Federal level, in 2006, Congress en-
acted a Federal 36 percent annualized usury cap for 
servicemembers and their families for covered credit 
products, as defined by the Department of Defense, 
which curbed payday, car title, and tax refund lend-
ing around military bases; 
(3) notwithstanding such attempts to curb 
predatory lending, high-cost lending persists in all 
50 States due to loopholes in State laws, safe harbor 
laws for specific forms of credit, and the exportation 
of unregulated interest rates permitted by preemp-
tion; 
(4) due to the lack of a comprehensive Federal 
usury cap, consumers annually pay approximately 
$17,000,000,000 for high-cost overdraft loans, as 
much as $7,000,000,000 for storefront and online 
payday loans, and additional amounts in unreported 
revenues from bank direct deposit advance loans and 
high-cost online installment loans; 
(5) cash-strapped consumers pay on average 
400 percent annual interest for payday loans, 300 
percent annual interest for car title loans, up to 
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3,500 percent for bank overdraft loans, and triple- 
digit rates for online installment loans; 
(6) a national maximum interest rate that in-
cludes all forms of fees and closes all loopholes is 
necessary to eliminate such predatory lending; and 
(7) alternatives to predatory lending that en-
courage small dollar loans with minimal or no fees, 
installment payment schedules, and affordable re-
payment periods should be encouraged. 
SEC. 3. NATIONAL MAXIMUM INTEREST RATE. 
Chapter 2 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 
1631 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 140B. MAXIMUM RATES OF INTEREST. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro-
vision of law, no creditor may make an extension of credit 
to a consumer with respect to which the fee and interest 
rate, as defined in subsection (b), exceeds 36 percent. 
‘‘(b) FEE AND INTEREST RATE DEFINED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the fee and interest rate includes all charges 
payable, directly or indirectly, incident to, ancillary 
to, or as a condition of the extension of credit, in-
cluding— 
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