Maine winters can be brutal, and large winter heating bills can be difficult for families to manage. Unfortunately, families struggling to meet utility or other bills become targets for financial products that only make things worse.

Payday loans are among the worst. Typically 14- or 30-day loans at 260 percent interest or higher, payday loans promise short-term relief but lead to a long-term debt trap.

Taking out a high-cost payday loan is never the right decision for consumers facing financial hardships, especially utility bills. That is because payday lenders count on their customers’ inability to afford the loans and their other expenses — forcing them to re-borrow to repay the previous loan. The payday lending industry generates most of its profits from borrowers who take out more than 10 loans a year.

Payday loans seem quick and easy, but there are much better options to help cash-strapped families retain essential utility services. Utility customers have the right to a variety of payment plans that require the utility to negotiate a plan that takes into account the customer’s ability to pay. Utilities must work with customers facing sudden and unexpected expenses or loss of income, and there are also low-income financial and bill payment assistance programs available to consumers in need. Moreover, there are strict rules in Maine that limit the right of electric and gas utilities to disconnect service during the winter months and that prevent disconnection if the bill is disputed as long as the customer pays the undisputed amount.

Payday loans are not as much of a problem in Maine as they are in some other states because Mainers don’t want those predatory lenders in the state. Just last year, the state Legislature’s Insurance and Financial Services committee resoundingly rejected — by unanimous vote — a proposal to bring more of these loans into Maine. But the fees they charge means that the actual interest rate can still be 260 percent or higher and can ensnare people who cannot afford to repay the loans.

Out-of-state internet lenders — though they are subject to state law when they lend to Maine borrowers — are harder to enforce against and require strong federal oversight.

Payday lenders are notorious for using aggressive and often illegal debt collection tactics to collect on their debt-trap loans. Violations of fair debt collection laws are far too common in the payday-lending industry — an industry that often deliberately makes loans borrowers can’t afford to repay. Both existing state law and state enforcement of the Consumer Bureau rule, once in effect, should be fully deployed to address these abuses.

In a complaint filed with the federal Consumer Bureau, one Mainer described being “harassed and threatened by numerous parties” over a $250 payday loan, including calls from a debt collection attorney who illegally threatened arrest and jail time.

To help reign in the abuses of the payday lending industry, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a payday loan rule that stops short of banning the loans but limits the number of unaffordable back-to-back loans lenders may issue. If lenders want to give a person more than six loans a year or trap them in debt for more than 90 days a year, they must assess the borrower’s ability to repay a loan — just as all responsible banks, credit unions, and credit card companies already do.

Recognizing the need for consumer access to credit, the Consumer Bureau’s rule does not hinder responsible small-dollar loans issued by Maine’s banks and credit unions. Well-established and reputable financial institutions are in a much better position to meet the needs of consumers than payday lenders offering 260 percent debt trap loans.

Yet I was shocked to learn that some lawmakers in Washington have introduced resolutions to repeal this commonsense rule. At the urging of payday loan lobbyists, and after many have received campaign contributions from the industry, members of Congress have introduced measures in the Senate (S.J. Res. 56) and the House (H.J. Res.122) to repeal the Consumer Bureau’s rule under a fast-tracked process granted under the Congressional Review Act.

To date, no member of Maine’s congressional delegation has signed on as a cosponsor of the resolutions. I hope representatives in Washington will put the interest of Mainers first and reject efforts to strip commonsense protections from predatory payday lenders making unaffordable triple-digit rate loans.

Barbara Alexander is a nationally recognized consultant for consumers on utility issues. She lives in Winthrop.

Barbara Alexander