As payday lenders plead to members of Congress for help inhandling the potential onslaught of regulations from the CFPB, itappears few are willing to come to the industry's defense.

Last week, The Hill reported that payday lenders were reachingout to members of Congress for assistance as the agency preparesnew regulations to prevent what it calls “debt traps.”

“Today the CFPB announced it is considering proposing rules thatwould end payday debt traps by requiring lenders to take steps tomake sure consumers can repay their loans,” a statement on theCFPB's website read. “The proposals under consideration would alsorestrict lenders from attempting to collect payment from consumers'bank accounts in ways that tend to rack up excessive fees. Thestrong consumer protections being considered would apply to paydayloans, vehicle title loans, deposit advance products, and certainhigh-cost installment loans and open-end loans.”

As the next step in the rulemaking process, the agency ispreparing for a Small Business Review Panel to gather feedback fromsmall lenders.

According to The Hill, “the seven small payday lenderschosen to review the CFPB's regulatory framework in March said theyhad difficulty engaging constructively with the agency,” and thelenders said they believe the CFPB wants to eliminate the paydayindustry altogether.

But in an article released yesterday by Morning Consult,payday lenders aren't finding many allies in Congress.

The CFPB wants to eliminate the need for consumers to take onmore payday loans to pay back their original payday loans, statingthat research shows four out of five payday loans are rolled overor renewed within two weeks.

“For many borrowers, what starts out as a short-term, emergencyloan turns into an unaffordable, long-term debt trap,” the CFPBsaid.

The CFPB also wants to give consumers more time to pay backtheir loans, and wants payday lenders to ensure consumers can payback their loans before they are approved.

In a July Pew Charitable Trusts poll, only one in 10 Americans viewpayday lenders favorably, and while many Americans feel thatoverdraft charges are too high, they prefer overdraft charges topayday loan fees.

On the fifth anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reformand Consumer Protection Act, President Obama announced final rules to help prevent U.S. military troops from beingtaken advantage of by predatory lenders. The Military Lending Actoriginated as a proposal from the CFPB. Payday loans, among others,are now subject to the Military Annual Percentage Rate cap andother Military Lending Act protections.