Payday Pundit

Could be another legislative battle in Colorado next year according to the Rocky Mountain News:
Payday lending increased by only 1 percent in Colorado last year, but state officials say they still are worried by continued high interest rates, an increase in borrower bankruptcies and consumer debt dependency.
That’s quite a sentence.   Do these consumers that officials […]

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Laura Snider at the Boulder Daily Camera.   Her insipid column repeats the discredited Center for Responsible Lending description of the the average customer.  Not to mention her weird ranting and raving about needing money to see the rock band Radiohead:
Between Boulder and Longmont, there are12 of these places, which offer “fast, friendly service.” The problem is […]

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Tim Miller of Center for Consumer Freedom continues his fight to protect citizens from a “paternalistic” government.  Here’s his piece in the Colorado Springs Gazette in its entirety: 

Payday loans bridge gaps for responsible adults
By TIM MILLER

If you can’t manage your own finances, you should be relieved: Peter Groff wants to do it for you. And […]

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That’s what this article in the Denver Post says of the Colorado payday lending legislation.   The  coverage  fails to mention that an effective ban on payday lending would have done nothing to help consumers in Colorado.  Consumers are best off when they have all the necessary information and are able to make financial decisions based on what’s […]

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Rocky Mountain News: Payday loan bill languishes due to Veiga amendment
A legislative attempt to place restrictions on the state’s payday lending industry appears dead as the bill languishes in a Senate committee.
House Bill 1310 sought to restrict or eliminate most of the fees and set a maximum interest rate on payday loans. Backers of the […]

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A job well done to KCFR Colorado Public Radio host Ryan Warner on his segment today, “Lawmakers take close look at payday loans.”  Warner interviewed State Rep. Mark Ferrandino, sponsor of a bill that would force payday lenders to close in Colorado, and Ron Rockvan, a Colorado payday lender. 
Mr. Warner actually took the time to […]

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The Tribune newspaper of Greeley, CO carries a guest piece today on payday lending legislation by Michael Hough, director of the Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force at the American Legislative Exchange Council.    Hough says:
“This misguided legislation assumes that the majority of Coloradans are unable to make appropriate financial decisions without the state intervening on their […]

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One of the comments in response to this Denver Post op-ed raised the old canard about payday lenders “targting” certain neighborhoods.   This was the next response:
 ”Payday loan companies pop up in markets where there is demand for them. Using your logic, I guess I could say that BestBuy pops up in my neighborhood to prey on those […]

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Terry Kibbe of the Consumers Rights League has a guest piece today in the Denver Post that picks up on recent research by Don Morgan of the NY Federal Reserve. 
Money quote: ”Morgan also questioned the validity of the research from the Center for Responsible Lending saying the Center ‘overstated the number of problem borrowers.’ He noted […]

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Jeffrey S. Zax, an economics professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder takes a different approach to the debate over payday lending.  In his letter to editor to the Denver Post, he writes, ”Payday lenders’ interest rates seem outrageous. If payday lenders are actually making unconscionable profits, why aren’t other lenders entering the market?” Mr. Zax goes on […]

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