A New Uniform Code of Consumer Credit

This Essay provides an overview and criticism of predatory lending laws then proposes a new Uniform Code of Consumer Credit (UCCC) to work alongside the Truth in Lending Act. The proposed UCCC would provide a complete and behaviorally informed system of consumer financial protection that strives to keep credit affordable and to encourage innovative credit products. The Essay argues that a uniform law will create sufficient state-to-state consistency to reduce the need for federal preemption and thereby bring the benefits of federalism - protection from agency capture, legislative responsiveness and experimentation at the state level - into consumer financial protection. Finally, it suggests five starting principles for drafting a UCCC: legal realism, the jurisprudence of unfair and deceptive acts and practices, rationalizing consumer credit contracts with the law of contracts, incentives for safe and affordable credit, and effective remedies