Congress hits payday, loan industries
NEWYORK — Payday and auto title lenders will have to adhere to stricter rules that could significantly curtail their business under rules finalized Thursday by a federal regulator. But the first nationwide regulation of the industry is still likely to face resistance from Congress.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s rules largely reflect what the agency proposed last year for an industry. The cornerstone is that lenders must now determine before giving a loan whether a borrower can afford to repay it in full with interest within 30 days.
A key goal is to prove that borrowers, who are often in dire financial situations, are able to pay without having to renew the loan repeatedly. The rules would set limits on the number of times a borrower could renew.
While the industry may garner little sympathy from the public, there is an economic need for small dollar, short-term loans. Roughly 12 million people took out a payday loan in 2010, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Weinstein takes leave
LOS ANGELES — Harvey Weinstein, the largerthan-life Hollywood executive and Oscar-winner, is taking a leave of absence from his own company after an explosive expose revealing decades of sexual harassment against women, from employees to actress Ashley Judd, was published in The New York Times Thursday.
Twounnamed company officials tell the Times that at least eight women have received settlements from Mr. Weinstein over the years, including actress Rose McGowan, who allegedly had an incident with him in 1997 when she was 23.
Storm to impact U.S.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Tropical Storm Nate is expected to impact Florida this weekend with rain and wind, even though the eye is not currently forecast to make landfall in the state.
Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency in 29 counties in the northern part of the state.
The storm, which is still a tropical storm as of the National Hurricane Center’s 2 p.m. EDT advisory Thursday morning, is expected to head toward the U.S. this weekend. Its current location is near Nicaragua.
It’s too early to pinpoint the exact location of landfall and the magnitude of the storm’s impacts, the hurricane center cautions.
Russia hacked NSA worker
WASHINGTON— Hackers allegedly working for the Kremlin stole details about how the U.S. infiltrates foreign networks and defends against cyberattacks after a National Security Agency contractor took the classified material home and put it on a personal computer, according to a news report published Thursday. The hacks occurred in 2015 were not discovered until last spring.
The Wall Street Journal reported the breach of classified information. It’s the third time since 2013 that a theft of sensitive information involving an NSA contractor has become publicly known.
Also in the nation...
In a sharp rebuke to President Donald Trump’s expanded deportation orders, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed landmark “sanctuary state” legislation Thursday, vastly limiting who state and local law enforcement agencies can hold, question and transfer at the request of federal immigration authorities. ... A report by the Treasury Department’s inspector general on Thursday said that Secretary Steven Mnuchin did not violate any law in the seven trips he has taken on government airplanes but did fail to provide enough proof of why he needed to use the more expensive modes of travel.