Federal Law Impacts Military Customers

Man in a military uniform, carrying his child and holding his wife. Man in a military uniform, carrying his child and holding his wife.
 

To Our Military Customers

As of October 3, 2016, we were required to comply with the amendments to the regulations implementing the Military Lending Act. Due to limitations imposed by the amended law, we no longer make loans to "covered borrowers," a term which includes active duty members of the military, their spouses and dependents.

With few exceptions, the new regulations apply to all forms of consumer credit, including: vehicle title loans, installment loans, unsecured open-end lines of credit, payday loans, refund anticipation loans, credit cards and deposit advance loans.

Additional information about the Military Lending Act and your options are available below. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you – we hope to have the opportunity to provide other financial services to you in the future.

Moneytree offers the following loans that are covered under the Military Lending Act (depending on market): payday loans*, vehicle title loans** and installment loans.

This law defines a “covered borrower” as a person with the following status at the time he or she enters into a loan agreement:

  • A regular or reserve member of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast Guard serving on active duty under a call or order that does not specify a period of 30 days or less, or such a member serving on Active Guard and Reserve duty as that term is defined in 10 USC 101(d)(6); and
  • The member’s spouse or child defined in 38 USC 101(4); or
  • An individual for whom the member provided more than one-half of the individual’s support for 180 days immediately preceding an extension of consumer credit.

The Military Lending Act was enacted by Congress in 2005, setting rate and term limits on certain types of "consumer credit," including payday loans, short-term installment loans and vehicle title loans. The new regulations expand the definition of "consumer credit" to include all of the loan products offered by Moneytree.

Yes. In this case, you may be eligible to apply for a consumer loan from Moneytree.

No. Under the law, you are a "covered borrower." Due to limitations imposed by the law, we no longer make loans to covered borrowers as of October 3, 2016.

As long as you have not been called to active duty for more than 30 consecutive days, you may be eligible to apply for a consumer loan.

Moneytree may receive information about your military “covered borrower” status from a third party credit reporting agency or from the Department of Defense. If you are listed as a "covered borrower" but you believe you are not a "covered borrower," you must contact the credit reporting agency or Department of Defense to correct your status.

Yes. The law's limitations apply only to "consumer credit." You are welcome to visit any Moneytree Branch to cash checks, purchase money orders, send and receive wire transfers and process prepaid debit card transactions.

You may contact your state’s government officials or the government agency that regulates consumer lending in your state. Contact information for government officials and agencies can be found at: www.usa.gov/elected-officials. Additional information can be found at the Department of Defense website at: www.defense.gov.

*Payday Loans may also be referred to as deferred deposits, signature loans, payday loans without a checking account, and loans without a checking account, depending on the state in which the loan is offered.

**Vehicle title loans may also be referred to as auto equity loans.