Arizona and Ohio voters resoundingly defeat payday lenders. tide is turning accross the nation as the american public becomes aware of the diabolical greed and the huge cost of these loans that is destroying families caught in the pay day lending trap.
payday loans prey on the most vulnerable during economic difficulties and it is time for Montana to pass legislation regulating these businesses. from seniors to newlyweds, anyone with a checking account and a job or social security benefits can walk into these places and get up to 300.00 instantly. all they have to do is postdate a check for their next payday and make it out for 375.00. easy money right? it is, but anything that easy has to carry a big stinger. what happens if your upcoming paycheck in two weeks is too small to cover the check you wrote? you have two choices. let the check bounce, in which case the lender can and will prosecute you for writing a bad check and you will go to jail or at the very least pay a lot of fines and attorney fees or, you can pay the 75.00 interest each month and have them “rollover” the loan again and again. the typical payday loan consumer does this rollover 10 months or more. thus paying $1500.00 for the original loan of $300.00. that same $300.00 loan if not paid within the year would cost you $1950.00- this is an interest rate of 650%!!!
what is the difference between payday loans and vehicle title loans or pawn shops? the difference is with a pawn shop or vehicle title loan you risk losing an asset like a rifle or diamond ring or a vehicle if you do not pay. this is fairly well understood and while pawning items and losing title to a vehicle can be painful, at least the loan is resolved and does not go on into perpetuity like a payday loan which traps the consumer every two weeks into insane interest rates. that is the insidious nature of this business, it traps the consumer in an endless cycle of debt that many people can never escape.
there are groups accross montana interested in introducing legislation in the next montana state legislative session which convenes on Jan 5, 2009 (less than two months away) there is already a group in billings working on it and they have already begun to garner support from both parties on this important issue of curbing payday lenders and regulating this business so that the terms are more fair for the consumer.
43 states accross america have already passed legislation to regulate this industry. Oregon, Ohio, and Colorado have managed to do this with both republican and democratic support. Montana should pass similar legislation and with strong leadership from both parties this session it can be done. these groups need our support and they need people willing to testify about their personal ordeals with payday lenders or about ordeals that friends and family members may have had. since this is early in the process i would like to invite anyone who has any dealings with payday loan lenders to share with us your story on this blog. you don’t have to give us your name and we will not ever divulge identities to anyone. but, we need your stories about payday lending and would invite you to share them with us.
hopefully, we can limit the interest to 36% per year as most states have and make the payments one month out instead of two weeks out to give people more time to pay. together, we can accomplish much to achieve change in America. payday businesses should not be allowed to prey on our fellow financially vulnerable Montanans without some regulation and consumer protections to guide them. please join in this small but important change. with the worsening economic climate many more Montanans will fall prey to payday lenders if we do not act this winter. call your local legislators and let them know how you feel about this issue. together we can make a difference one change at a time.
November 9, 2008
Categories: economy, payday loans . . Author: problembear . Comments: 4 Comments
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