By Harry Samler, CBS46 Investigative Reporter
ATLANTA (CBS46) –
Have you received a random check in the mail offering to help you pay your bills?
Thousands of people in Georgia have received such a check. They come from predatory lenders but they may not be legal for much longer — not after a series of stories from CBS46.
We’ve been telling you about these crazy checks for months. You get one in the mail, you cash it and without realizing it, you’re stuck in a high-interest loan. We were shocked to learn that thousands of low-income residents in Georgia are being targeted for these loans and thousands are being sued for default.
State Senator Elana Parent saw our stories and decided to sponsor a bill to make predatory checks illegal in Georgia. In her first hearing with the Senate’s Banking and Finance Committee, Parent’s proposing Senate Bill 198.
It’s a big deal because it would stop lenders from targeting people in Georgia with the predatory checks.
This was just the first hearing, but we’ll continue to follow this story.
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Source: WGCL-TV