Olympian - Payday loan' bill sets good example for all We owe a lot to the brave men and women who choose to serve in our country's armed forces. And now I'm hoping that one recent measure passed specifically to assist military personnel will serve as a template

Balance could shift in both chambers
Quad-Cities Times - The refusal of the leadership there to consider a cap on predatory lending by the "Title Loan", "Payday Loan" businesses is indicative of a total disregard for the less fortunate. Raising the tobacco tax would discourage smoking and save lives and

Slate - Apparently, many so-called "payday loan" shops set up around military bases. They charge interest rates of up to 400 percent . A report suggests that roughly 20 percent of soldiers took out such short-term loans last year. The story suggests that some

MICHELLE SINGLETARY: THE COLOR OF MONEY Extend military help to
El Di rio La Estrella - What's a payday loan? If you don't know, consider yourself fortunate. Payday loans are small, short-term, high-interest-rate loans, typically of a few hundred dollars. They go by a variety of other names: cash advance loans, check advance loans, post

Talent blasts McCaskill in Waynesville
Waynesville Daily Guide - Talent said he believed Pulaski County voters may be especially interested in supporting legislation he sponsored that would cap payday loan annual interest rates at 36 percent, but only for military personnel. You have 5,000 sailors and

CompareYourLoans.com is the first spot in the industry to feature a fully interactive educational platform for learning about financial products and services; and specifically the increasingly more important areas of mortgages, refinancing, payday loans, debt consolidation, and home equity loans.

Compare Your Loans encourages consumers to sound off, ask questions, and participate in its interactive features; such as the Personal Finance Blog and its Forum.

There are plenty of up-to-date and helpful resources ranging from articles, mortgage tips, mortgage calculators, market updates, credit information, and financial videos that explain mortgage concepts for those visual and interactive learners out there.

Beacon News - Area schools receive Payday Loan Store donations Four PLS Payday Loan Store locations in the Aurora area donated a total of $800 to local schools. The donations were part of a Back to School promotion in which customers nominated local schools to

Diane D. Denish (i), Democrat
Albuquerque Tribune - Studies show some New Mexicans are unfairly targeted by payday lenders. What steps should the state take to crack down on those who take advantage of residents in need of a loan? Recent regulations go a long way toward eliminating the debt trap faced

Interest capped on military payday advances
Nashville Tennessean - that is aimed at storefront lenders clustered around military bases. The law is a response to "payday advance" stores that market short-term loans, typically charging $15 or $20 per $100 loan for periods of up to two weeks or a borrower's next payday.

Letters, 10/17
Denver Post - In defense of the payday loan industry Re: "Not making it from payday to payday," Oct. 8 editorial. The payday advance industry exists because we offer customers a convenient service that can be more desirable than their alternatives. Although

Big questions for the suburbs
Las Vegas Sun - Three ask whether strip clubs, adult movie theaters and adult bookstores should be allowed to operate in the city, while the two other measures focus on zoning restrictions on pawnshops and payday loan businesses. All five are nonbinding, and are

During the quarter, the Company realized a stronger than expected signature loan contribution (primarily due to lower levels of bad debt), a net benefit of approximately $0.04 per share from several non-recurring items, and a lower than expected earnings drag from new store openings.

For the year, the Company opened 101 EZMONEY stores and closed one, for a net increase of 100 stores. For fiscal 2007, the Company expects earnings to be in the range of $2.40 to $2.45 per share.

EZCORP is a lender and provider of credit services to individuals who do not have cash resources or access to credit to meet their short-term cash needs.

In 280 EZPAWN locations open on September 30, 2006, the Company offers non-recourse loans collateralized by tangible personal property, commonly known as pawn loans.

At these locations, the Company also sells merchandise, primarily collateral forfeited from its pawn lending operations, to consumers looking for good value.

In 334 EZMONEY locations and 82 EZPAWN locations open on September 30, 2006, the Company offers short-term non-collateralized loans, often referred to as payday loans, or fee based credit services to customers seeking loans.

Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties such as changing market conditions in the overall economy and the industry, consumer demand for the Company's services and merchandise, changes in regulatory environment, and other factors periodically discussed in the Company's annual, quarterly and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Limiting high-priced payday loans offered around military bases would help some of the 28,000 soldiers stationed at Fort Campbell, especially younger enlistees living on their own for the first time, an Army sergeant claimed Tuesday. Tennessee is home to 1,428 payday lenders that can charge fees up to 15 percent on two-week loans, according to the state's Department of Financial Institutions.

President Bush is scheduled to sign a bill into law today that would cap the annual interest payday lenders can charge at 36 percent instead of the 390 percent maximum now allowed under state law.

The Mesa, Arizona City Council rejected a rule recently that would have prohibited payday loan stores from locating within 1/4 mile of another loan store.

That drew fire from critics who plainly say the short term lending businesses prey on people in bad financial situations. There are more than 100 payday lending stores in Mesa, which offer check-cashing services and short-term loans with high interest rates.

The Mayor, council members and others to defeat the measure.  They maintained that it would do little to curb the problem of Mesa's exploding number of lending businesses.

Critics of the stores chafed at an assertion by one council member that some residents wanted restrictions on the businesses because the stores cater to poorer residents and minorities.

Tellers at the North Carolina State Employees' Credit Union noticed a troubling change several years ago: The first people in line on payday were high-cost lenders, waiting to cash checks from credit-union members.

A glance at the records showed that thousands of credit-union customers were turning to payday outlets for small loans to be repaid with their next paychecks.

Such products typically carry annual fees of 300 percent to 1,000 percent. Many strapped borrowers repeatedly roll over the loans, sinking deeply into debt.

To wean its members from payday providers, the State Employees' Credit Union in 2001 introduced a short-term loan that has a 12 percent annual interest rate, has a maximum limit of $500, and requires borrowers to repay via direct deposit of their paychecks and put 5 percent of loan proceeds in savings accounts.

The SECU is one of a growing number of credit unions offering products specifically designed to combat payday lending, which soared in popularity in the 1990s as the nation experienced record economic growth.

Payday lending has become a $40 billion annual business (in loan volume) with more than 22,000 U.S. outlets, according to the Community Financial Services Association of America, the industry's trade group. By comparison, Starbucks has 8,624 U.S. locations and McDonald's about 14,000.

In the meantime, officials are working with such nonprofits as Our Oregon and credit unions to promote alternative loans, including putting informational fliers in food-bank boxes.

"If all we do as regulators is say, 'We're going to cut back on this, cut back on that,' (high-cost lending) will pop up someplace else," said Cory Streisinger, the director of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services.

"They don't even do a credit check; they just use your (paycheck).

A typical payday product might be a two-week loan for $200 with a $30 fee, which translates into an effective annual percentage rate of 390 percent.

Steven Schlein, a spokesman for the Community Financial Services Association, said the industry experience is that borrowers often choose payday lenders to avoid high bounced-check or credit-card late fees from mainstream lenders, which can carry fees of more than 1,000 percent on an annual basis.

For example, the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, based on a voluntary survey of 66 percent of the state's payday lenders, found about 17 percent of borrowers took out one loan in 2004, half took out six or more and 25 percent a dozen or more.

Read the complete story here:
Payday Loan Story

Recently in Charlestown, there was a meeting to discuss the pros and cons of payday loans. The two opposing sides were a payday loan lobbying group.  The AARP said that payday lending is a predatory practice and the laws should be changed to protect consumers. On the other side, the nation's largest payday lender said that they provide a valuable service to people that need help.

The AARP was clearly the louder of the voices at the meeting. They said that people should only be allowed to take out one loan at a time and that there should be a 24 hour cooling off period before they can take out another loan.

I realized today that it probably makes sense to start this site off with a basic definition of a payday loan. Not everyone is familiar with them.

In a nutshell, a payday loan is a short-term loan (usually for less than $500.) Most of the time, they don't require a credit check. Payday loans are really designed to help you cover the gap between paydays.

That's a very brief definition. We'll cover this in more detail in later postings.