NEWS RELEASE
Faith leaders will host a “pray-in” to protest predatory lending
outside of Title Max in Yorktown – Mon., Jan. 6, 4:20 p.m.
“As people of faith and conscience, we cannot look the other way while these companies enrich themselves by trapping our fellow citizens in a hopeless cycle of debt.”
– Kim Bobo, Executive Director of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy.
RICHMOND – Jan. 2, 2020 – Faith leaders and community activists will be praying and speaking outside of Title Max in Yorktown, Mon., Jan. 6, at 4:20 p.m. to call attention to the scourge of car title and payday lending in Virginia. Address: Title Max: 2721 George Washington Memorial Hwy, Yorktown, VA.
Rev. Dr. Anthony Fludd will lead prayers and explain why the faith community, the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (VICPP), the Virginia Poverty Law Center, and many others are deeply concerned about predatory lending practices. Fludd is Assistant Pastor of St. Johns Church of God in Christ in Newport News, and a board member of VICPP.
Virginia has become the East Coast capital of predatory lending. In Virginia, lenders often charge up to 300% interest on short-term loans, offering instant cash when people have an emergency, without a credit check. That loan amount increases exponentially and can trap people in a cycle of debt and lead to financial ruin. Most faiths condemn the practice of usury.
The organizers call upon legislators in the upcoming General Assembly to enact laws to protect hardworking families from predatory lenders. VICPP has created a sign on statement to share with legislators calling for Fair Lending reforms that protect borrowers.
To learn about Virginia Interfaith Center’s legislative priorities come to a 3pm meeting on Jan. 6, with Executive Director, Kim Bobo at Zion Prospect Baptist Church, 408 Darby Rd. in Yorktown.
“As faith leaders and people of faith, we urge the Virginia legislature to act boldly in 2020 to fix the abusive practices in the payday and title lending market and save families millions of dollars each year,” –Rev. Dr. Anthony Fludd
Media contact
Roberta Oster
Communications Director
roberta@virginiainterfaithcenter.org
804-615-4192
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The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy advocates economic, racial, social and environmental justice
in Virginia’s policies and practices through education, prayer, and action.
VICPP is a non-partisan coalition of more than 750 faith communities working for a more just society.