The D.C. Council on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved legislation to cap soaring interest rates of payday lenders, a move that a representative of the high interest loan industry said “doomed” their businesses. The bill passed by a 12-1 vote, with only Ward 8 Council Member Marion Barry — once a backer of the measure — standing opposed. Ward 3 Council Member Mary Cheh, who led the charge, characterized payday lenders as an “invasive species” causing “destruction and havoc” in the lives of their borrowers, mostly the working poor.

“They steal money,” Cheh said. “They steal futures by their practices.”