The day after tomorrow
June 29, 2010 | Arizona, industry | Comments (0)No, not the cheesey post-nuclear war movie of the early ’80s, but the end of payday lending in Arizona. From the story:
Payday loans with interest rates topping 400 percent become illegal in Arizona at midnight Wednesday, after voters rejected a 2008 ballot measure to extend the industry’s 10-year authorization to operate.
State Senator Debbie McCune-Davis of Phoenix helped defeat last-ditch efforts to reverse the election results in the legislature.
“Voters were given the opportunity to make a decision about whether payday lenders continue to operate at outrageously high interest rates or change their practices to come under the 36 percent usury law. The voters were very clear about it, and now it’s happening.”
McCune-Davis calls ending payday loans “a victory for the people of Arizona.” Payday lenders say they can’t cover operating costs with a 36 percent rate cap, and several payday loan stores have already closed.
McCune-Davis missed the recent study by National Consumer Law Center saying that alternatives are NOT cheaper.
Lenders say they were providing a necessary service, but McCune-Davis says people have other options for small, short-term loans.
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