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Lawsuits by payday lenders swamp courts
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If we assume a low number like 10 loans taken out and either repaid or rolled over, before becoming delinquent, this 1% then equates to 10% of customers eventually having the loan repayment pursued in small claims court.
This is disgusting and anyone who defends an industry that preys on the poor in this manner needs to turn in their humanity cards.
I'm as much for deregulation as the next guy, but something needs to be done. I see far too many of these in the cases I handle.
I'm a little more likely to trust the newspaper than companies who prey on customers in need of a "quick fix."
Who was the genius who determined that those caps should be erased? Has anyone investigated for the almost inevitable conflict of interest (no pun intended) with the "legislator/s" and the loan sharks?
If they really are giving out one million loans in Utah, given our population, that means something like one out of every two adults had to get a loan from them. Do all of you remember doing that?
Or it means a lot of people who takes out a Payday loan really does have to take out another, and another, and another - until he or she goes broke, gets sued, and loses everything he or she owns. That final court case only represents the last in a series of loans.
Or it means the 1% failure number they cite isn't accurate. Remember, we don't know because they haven't shown us any data. It's like a magician who blindfolds his audience and then tells them to believe that he can make an elephant fly.
What we really need to ask is why don't the Payday loan people want the state of Utah to take off its blindfold?
There are other ways to make ends meet without paying exorbiant fees. Get creative and learn the time value of money. These places need to go out of business so the owners can find a productive way to make money and contribute to society rather than riding on the backs of the poor.
Exactly why this industry needs regulating, they are reporting the numbers, if they do not want the state to regulate their industry, how about letting an outside auditing company authenticate their numbers.
"In 2007 � which was not an election year � the industry gave $30,200 combined to 37 legislators (out of 104 total). Payday lenders gave more than credit unions or banks, which are traditionally some of the biggest donors in the state."
I find this disgusting, why do legislators, both local and national continue to tell us that campaign donations have no effect on how they vote. I for one do not believe them.
Bottom line....You and I pay for this! Misinformed and ignorant people are forced into bankrupcy and as a result we pay MORE for our legimitate consumer loans and credit cards.
To our legislators: This industry demands that you do something to at least make them honest in what they are telling the public and their customers.
At the very least, new rules regarding venue of small claims actions are in order. How about limiting small claims courts to hearing cases that arise in the same county or judicial district? Locals judging locals seems like the way these courts are supposed to work to begin with. And it would limit outfits like Check City from playing these default-encouraging games with their victims.
Kind of hard to do that when the Legislature has legalized the practice, isn't it? Or do you prefer that judges enforce or discard laws as they see fit, thus acting as both the Judicial and Legislative branches of government?
The problem with the payday loan industry is the permissive laws that allows it to exist in its' present form. We should be railing at the Legislature for regulations to curb predatory lending practices. The filing fees paid to the courts do not cover all the court expenses to hear these cases, thus we, the taxpayers, are subsidizing and encouraging predatory loan practices.
Call and write your legislators now to enact more oversight and regulation on the industry.
I would point you to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that did an analysis. Also the Wall Street Journal (not the Bill Clinton opinion, the fact based article). Studies that show what happens when you shut down the industry like they did in Georgia and North Carolina.
Get your own, fact-based, opinion.
You cannot just legislate away a need. You can't turn to the banks. They created the need by making these people unbankable. Now the banks are making these loans under the phrase, deferred deposit advance. Where is your animosity towards the banks?
521% for Payday Loans? Since when do we take a fee and extrapolate it to an APR? When it looks worse that way and we are opposed to the product. Figure the fees as a yearly APR on a bounced check or ATM fees. Those get above 1,000% quickly and they destroy your credit.
Figure out those questions and you will be the next hot thing. Please figure out how to do this so we can get back to demonizing other capitalistic propositions. Otherwise, pretty soon we can all contribute to 5 year plans for the collective good, singing party worker songs and reminiscing about the days we were against the evil empire.
Nonetheless, where else are these borrowers going to find someone to lend to them? The banks? I think not. They don't have the credit to borrower from a bank or CU. They don't take care of their credit, and then wonder why they have to pay such high interest rates? With the credit records most of these borrowers have, you wouldn't lend them a dime.
And, if any of you were in the business (set up your own loan office, you kind-hearted souls), and lent someone $100 for two weeks, how much interest would you charge? Remember, of course, that you have to earn enough to cover all of your overhead (rent, payroll, etc). The cost to process a $100 loan is the same as it is to process a $100,000 loan. So, charging 10% on the $100,000 loan yields $10,000. On the $100 loan, $10. Good luck making a living off of that.
I don't believe anyone held a gun to a person's head and said "You HAVE to borrow money from a payday lender!"
Utah can do it to.
Davidson has to use 27000 to make it sound larger than it is so someone will read his article.
By the way. Interest on these loans is capped at 12 weeks. Period.
If anyone in the market can offer these loans at a lower rate than these payday lender guys then great! But last time I checked no one was willing to do it. Why is that? Maybe the good people on this comment board are willing to pull money out of their pocket and lend it at 18% APR. I guess they are not that community minded.
One issue with the industry is that it engages in predatory practices. What does that mean? Well, that 12 week interest cap is often exceeded, ILLEGALLY. Customers are often scammed into paying that illegal interest. Why does that happen? Little regulation or oversight.
You are right that the author uses the number 27,000 to make a point. To me that number isn't very meaningful. However, I am astonished that such a high percentage of small claims cases relate to payday loan defaults. Those figures are important. Finally, the small print that requires customers of Check City to travel to Provo if a claim is filed in small claims court should raise some eyebrows. That is an unreasonable burden and Check City knows that.
Obviously there is a market for these services, but when the industry is unwilling to effectively regulate themselves then the government should do that for them.
poor and needy. Then, we won't need pay day loans.
It is pretty ridiculous to expect the LDS Church to take care of everyone's financial problems.
Nevada Bob, maybe you were just teasing. I don't think anyone could really be so simple minded.
"Grinding the face of the poor..." It's just capitalism, isn't it?
-The number of bankruptcy filing increased
-The number of overdraft and bounced check fees increased (Credit Unions love hearing that!)
-The number of late payments on other forms of credit increased as well.
Go ahead, ban payday lending and everyone's credit problems will be solved (Ha Ha!).
The whole issue really boils down to personal responsibility and consumer education. If we taught basic economics in high school and (personal responsibility to our youth) instead of letting legislators, lobbyists, and consumer advocates dicate to us what is right and wrong we would see people with fewer credit problems.
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Sorry these 1% of borrowers took out loans and the companies had to sue to get their money back. Doesn't any person or business in this country have the right to litigate for what is rightfully theirs?
I understand the members of the media wanting to inform people about issues, but Davidson harps and harps on this issue again and again. There is no objectivity to his payday lending or legislative stories anymore.