refund anticipation loans

Kopel: News you can use before April 15
As tax time nears, there's rallying for RALs

By Jerry Kopel
Colorado Statesman

Each year in Denver I record winter's presence by the scurrying sound of furry squirrels going after the remaining crabapples hanging on our trees.

And then this year I read House Bill 1400, CRS 5-9.5-101 to 109. It passed our Legislature after a two-year review. It took effect Nov. 1, 2010 regarding "refund anticipation loan facilitators" referred to in the rest of this column as RALs.

This week, the Bell Policy Center submitted testimony in favor of two bills, HB 1119 and HB 1400.

HB 1400 would require those "facilitators" who prepare tax returns and arrange refund-anticipation loans (RALs) to register with the Internal Revenue Service. The Bell considers these loans to be a type of predatory lending that strips resources from low- and moderate-income communities.

Years of hard work paid off yesterday when Gov. Bill Ritter signed the payday lending bill into law.

We view this as a long, overdue victory for consumer protection in Colorado.

In 2002, the Bell identified predatory lending as a crippling practice that holds back too many families, preventing them from building wealth and achieving self-sufficiency.

March 1, 2009

It seemed like a small price to pay to Keisha Scott, especially since the tax refund she expected in return was to be so much larger.