Several U.S. states sue regulator over ‘true lender’ rule

NEW YORK (Reuters): Seven U.S. states and Washington, D.C. on Tuesday sued the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, seeking to void a rule they said could encourage predatory lending by depriving them of their ability to enforce state laws against exploitative interest rates.

The complaint filed in Manhattan federal court seeks to set aside the “True Lender Rule,” which according to the states ran contrary to Congressional efforts to curtail the OCC’s ability to preempt state consumer protection laws.