CFPA in “limbo”
February 14, 2010 | Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas, industry | Comments (0)I hope that’s the place bad ideas go before they die. From the Fort Worth Star Telegram:
President Barack Obama’s proposal to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency came in with a bang. But it appears to be going out with a whimper.
All hat, no cattle
February 12, 2010 | Texas, industry, regulation | Comments (0)Not exactly the most apt description of the critics in this article, but since the story was about Texas and I’ve been dying to use that phrase, I seized the opportunity.
Fort Worth & pawn shops
January 28, 2010 | Texas, alternatives, industry | Comments (0)Some leaders there are trying to ease restrictions:
The Fort Worth City Council is considering a proposal that would ease restrictions on pawn shops in the city, but one councilwoman says Cowtown doesn’t need more pawn shops.
As it stands now, pawn shops and payday lenders that go out of business for two years or more cannot reopen in the same location. But a proposal would do away with the two-year rule for pawnshops.
Now that’s a smart city council.
Not a loophole!
January 15, 2010 | Texas, industry | Comments (1)We get tired of these stories. Why do reporters feel that payday lenders have to stick to a strict business model? There are other legal ways to make short-term loans and in many states companies that also make payday loans have chosen to offer other services.
So what?
January 12, 2010 | Texas, industry | Comments (2)I’m really sick of this attack that there are more payday lending stores than McDonald’s. People love McDonald’s. And customers are satisfied with payday loans.
Is charity the only “alternative”?
December 16, 2009 | Texas, alternatives, industry | Comments (0)A United Way chapter is getting into the act.
Not an alternative
November 10, 2009 | Texas, industry | Comments (2)A bank out of Amarillo is proud of its small loan product, but it’s not a payday loan. From the story:
Escajeda said that institutions like Amarillo Bank offer small-dollar loans of under $2,500 or less for an average of nine months, at a 14% to 18% annual percentage rate — a rate significantly lower than what individuals pay when over-drafting their accounts or taking out payday loans
The amount is much higher than an average payday loan and the term is much longer.
Have we mentioned this before?
August 12, 2009 | Texas, alternatives, industry | Comments (0)Payday lending customers are banked! The Dallas Morning News doesn’t get it:
Payday-lending and check-cashing shops have cropped up all over Dallas in recent years, costing residents who use them an average of $800 in fees per year, according to city estimates.
Now, several Dallas City Council members say it’s time to get people away from those businesses and their fees and into traditional banks or credit unions.
The council’s budget, finance and audit committee approved a “Bank on Dallas” plan Tuesday with the goal of persuading 25,000 low-income people to open accounts in the coming year.
The plan revolves around working with banks and credit unions to allow low-income residents to open low-fee accounts with no minimum deposit.
The Payday Pundit has personally spoken to Dallas Morning News reporters within the last year to make sure they understood that payday lending customers are banked. The conversation must have fallen on deaf ears.
An alternative?
July 27, 2009 | Texas, alternatives, industry | Comments (0)This article about a Texas “alternative” to payday lending reads like one of the drug commercials where the disclosures take up half the commercial:
Plus, you’re required to use the savings component. “10% of the loan will be put into a savings account and frozen until the loan is paid off,” Natasha tells us…. And you’re able to pay back in installments, so you’re the one that gets to cash in instead of Payday lenders.
This program won’t be offered at every Credit Union in the state, we’re told there are 50 that will release it in the 4th quarter.
See your physician before using.
Don’t mess with Texas
July 8, 2009 | Texas, industry, regulation | Comments (0)(I just like saying that.)
While the U.S. Congress is looking at increased oversight of federal financial regulators, the state of Texas is loosening reins on its regulators. From the story:
Texas lawmakers reduced their own oversight of state financial agencies during the recently completed legislative session, citing the need to give the agencies more flexibility to address shifts in the economy.
They agreed to turn the three agencies that constitute the Texas Finance Commission into semi-independent agencies with substantially more autonomy. Supporters of the move say the current economic crisis revealed that the agencies were hamstrung by regulations as they sought to respond to developments quickly.
“Things in the financial industry can change fairly dramatically, and we need to respond as things change,” Texas Banking Commissioner Charles Cooper said.
Makes sense.
