Good letter
February 10, 2010 | Arizona, industry, regulation | Comments (0)In the Prescott Daily Courier:
Short-term “payday” lenders have been under attack by state and federal lawmakers who denounce their services as “predatory” (“Tobin’s bill would extend payday loans with new rules,” Jan. 13). But across the country, borrowers in need of emergency cash choose these loans willingly over other financial options. Research by a Federal Reserve economist found that 88 percent of short-term borrowers are satisfied with their loans.
Micro loans, Iowa & Arizona
January 28, 2010 | Arizona, Iowa | Comments (1)What do they have in common? They are all discussed over at PDLindustrynews.com
Update Arizona:
January 26, 2010 | Arizona, industry | Comments (0)A legislative hearing on a bill that would allow payday lenders to continue offering high-interest short-term loans in Arizona was delayed after the bill’s sponsor said it didn’t have enough support to advance.
Developments in Arizona
January 14, 2010 | Arizona, industry | Comments (1)A new bill has been introduced. Here’s a good piece in the Daily Courier:
State Rep. Andy Tobin of Paulden introduced a bill Wednesday to allow payday lenders to continue operating in Arizona, but under new rules.
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Tobin said the bill would limit payday lender profits to a flat fee of $15 per $100 of each loan. It would limit total loans to a maximum base of $500 at any one time, plus a $75 fee.
“Although opponents say a $15 fee translates to 390 percent APR, if you translate the fee for overdrawing your checking account by $100 (at an average overdraft fee of $26.68), you would be looking at 696 percent APR,” House Majority Whip Tobin said.
“Keep consumer credit options open”
January 13, 2010 | Arizona, industry, positive media coverage, states | Comments (0)Great piece in the Arizona Republic by a diverse group of authors from the middle, left & right: Grant Woods, attorney and former Arizona attorney general; Luis Ibarra, president and CEO of Friendly House, a social service agency; and, Steve Voeller, president of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club. The whole piece is a great read but here’s a couple of my favorite paragraphs:
Short-term loans are not for everyone, but every day in Arizona, thousands of hardworking people use short-term consumer-finance options to meet unexpected financial challenges and pay bills, buy groceries or gas, or to avoid more expensive bounced-check fees, overdraft fees and late-bill-payment penalties. Allowing the industry to sunset will exacerbate short-term consumer credit problems by pushing consumers into even less-desirable credit products, including off-shore online loans and neighborhood loan sharking. Eliminating the product does not eliminate the demand.
Does the industry need some reforms? Yes. New consumer protections that address the cycle of debt that too many people fall into are improvements to last year’s failed initiative.
“Short-sighed and elitist” to outlaw payday loans
January 5, 2010 | Arizona, industry | Comments (0)From Center for Consumer Freedom’s letter in AZBiz.com:
Short-term “payday” lenders have been under attack by state and federal lawmakers who denounce their services as “predatory.” But across the country, borrowers in need of emergency cash choose these loans willingly, over other financial options. Research by a Federal Reserve economist found that 88 percent of short-term borrowers are satisfied with their loans.
A recent study found short-term lenders’ average profit before taxes is $1.37 per $100 loaned. Imposing unrealistic fee caps on payday loans to kill the industry will leave consumers — already struggling in today’s economy — without vital access to short-term credit.
“Shortsighted and elitist” critics
December 11, 2009 | Arizona, industry | Comments (0)Center for Consumer Freedom letter-to-the-editor today in the Arizona Business:
A recent study found short-term lenders’ average profit before taxes is $1.37 per $100 loaned. Imposing unrealistic fee caps on payday loans to kill the industry will leave consumers — already struggling in today’s economy — without vital access to short-term credit.
It would be short-sighted and elitist for politicians to make snap judgments about financial services they have never needed themselves, and to prohibit financial options without thought of the consequences.
Payday loan beanballs?
December 6, 2009 | Arizona, industry, regulation | Comments (0)Interesting editorial in Arizona Republic.
PDl politics in AZ governors race
December 4, 2009 | Arizona, industry | Comments (0)The Arizona Daily Star is on it.
Ugly already in AZ?
December 3, 2009 | Arizona, industry | Comments (0)This snide column in the Arizona Republic seems a little early for a legislative battle that will be waged next year:
In November 2008, voters rejected Prop. 200, which would have allowed payday lenders to continue trapping desperate saps
in a bottomless pit of debt without any regulation. Now that the money train is at risk of going off the rail, the industry has hired former state Attorney General Grand Woods as well as the lobbying firm HighGround to save them.
Quietly and behind the scenes the hired guns are crafting legislation that would convince the governor and legislators to save the industry from restrictions that are scheduled to go into effect this summer.
Quietly and behind the scenes? This stuff has been report in at least two papers already.
