Booming in Wyoming
August 25, 2010 | Wyoming | Comments (1)From the story:
As Wyoming weathers the economic downturn, one business sector is seeing significant growth: payday lending. Marc Homer, director of Wyoming Kids Count, says the amount loaned has risen 10 years in a row, and is up 15 percent in a year.
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Payday lenders say they offer a needed financial product to high-risk borrowers shunned by banks. Homer says families in a financial pinch need better options. He wants Wyoming to join a number of states that are regulating the industry by capping interest and fees, and limiting the number of loans per year, as well as helping establish partnerships with credit unions to offer short-term small loans.
Debate brewing in Wyoming?
August 23, 2010 | Wyoming, customers | Comments (1)From the story:
According to a press release from the Wyoming Children’s Action Alliance and Kids Count, citing figures from the Wyoming Department of Audit, the amount loaned was about $26 million in 2000. That amount has increased each year, with about $92 million loaned in 2009.
The figures indicate that more and more people are coming up short in paying their bills, said Marc Homer, director of Kids Count in Wyoming.
“As times are getting tougher, you see people seeking out more desperate means,” he said.
Homer criticized payday loan companies for taking advantage of low-income people and charging outrageous interest rates, which ultimately trap people in debt and hurt children and families.
The news release said that the typical payday borrower ultimately pays $793 back for an initial loan of $325, and that 90 percent of loans go to people who have borrowed five or more times per year.
But Kevin Williams, the owner of Advance Cash Services here, said his business does not take advantage of people or charge unreasonable amounts, and that payday loan companies have gotten a bad rap.
The industry is growing because it provides a service that customers can’t get elsewhere, he said.
“We service a segment of the community that is ignored by the standard banking and credit card industries,” he said. “(The loans) offer a solution to a short-term problem that a family has.”
Booming in Wyoming
November 18, 2009 | Wyoming, alternatives, industry | Comments (0)That would be the pawn shop industry. I’m guessing that people there have a lot of guns to pawn.
Take action
October 1, 2009 | Wyoming, industry | Comments (0)Submit your comments to this Wisconsin story.
Well said
May 8, 2009 | Associated Press, Wyoming, industry, regulation | Comments (0)CFSA’s spokesperson Steven Schlein sums up the impact of 36% rate cap in this story out of Wyoming:
‘If they were getting it {a short-term loan} anywhere else, payday lenders wouldn’t be opening as many stores,” said Steven Schlein, a spokesman for the association.
He said the proposed 36-percent cap in effect would outlaw payday loans.
”Which leaves consumers with what?” he said. ”No one else except for pawn shops, where you need to use collateral is going to make them a $300 loan.”
Not that we don’t love pawnshops.
