Payday Pundit

From the Inglewood (CA) Weekly: 
Predatory lenders congregate in the inner cities peddling payday loans and charging exorbitant rates to cash checks.
According to a NY Federal Reserve staff study, payday loans are not “predatory.”  They also don’t congregate in inner cities–they’re more common in suburban strip malls–and they don’t cash checks, check cashers do.    Other than […]

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In her latest “consumer watch“ Sue Kwon warns against payday loans, but fails to mention that without access to payday loans, the couple highlighted in the story would have lost their home through foreclosure.  For what it’s worth, the maximum amount of a payday loan in California is $255. Ms. Kwon is correct about one thing, though, consumer […]

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Centeral California is hurting, but this smart consumer got helped by a payday loan company:
Cynthia Anderson lives in Santa Maria and went to the Cash Advance on Broadway.  She was charged $25 to borrow $150. 
But Anderson says the loan is a one-time thing and she only stopped by because “I don’t get paid until Thursday […]

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A fairly balanced story out of California entitle, “should interest rates be capped?”

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Which is why in Sacramento, they are turning to payday loans.

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The James Irvine Foundation in San Francisco gave five of its annual awards to a group of people who run “Bank on San Francisco.”  This is a group that recruits banks and credit unions to offer low-cost bank accounts to low income people.  A laudable program to be sure.  But the reasons the Foundation gave […]

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From an LA Times story today on California’s budget woes and the fight between the governor and the legislature: 
This kind of cruel brinkmanship pushes the real budget deadline to whatever August date is the last chance to send voters a tax measure for the November ballot, or the last chance to go to the financial […]

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I just came across this story from a Los Angeles ABC affiliate.  The piece includes tips for avoiding overdraft fees and bounced  check fees.  No mention of payday lending as an alternative, but still some useful advice.

In this economy it’s not uncommon to pay a bill before payday, hoping the paycheck clears in time to cover […]

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Now that the Long Beach City Council has put a moratorium on check cashing/payday lending stores, it’s  getting back to its real jobs, fixing the roads.   Apparently, there’s been an informal moratorium on roadbuilding and the city’s streets are falling apart.  

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A new personal finance program for high school students in California is being offered through the work of California Check Cashing Stores and NetSpend according to this press release.
Teaching people financial literacy skills - especially when they are young - is a great approach that the Community Financial Services Association backs wholeheartedly.  I hope to see more of these […]

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