Here are the details:

WHAT: Rally and press conference to discuss impact of House-passed legislation on Ohio’s leading payday lending companies.

WHO: Payday lending employees and customers, other supporters of the industry

WHERE: North Steps, State Capitol Building, Columbus, OH

WHEN: Tuesday, May 6th, 11am

Melissa Lutz, owner of Fast Check Cash Advance in Newark, Ohio, is worried about her customers if the Ohio House legislation becomes law: 

 We have a lot of customers that are going to have nowhere to go to get short-term loans,” she said. “If our legislature will look at other states that have (capped lending rates) … the people in that state are worse afterwards than they are before.”

The article also has comments from Ms. Lutz’s employee who is worried about her job and health benefits.  Are Ohio state senators listening?

Media advisory: 

STATEHOUSE RALLY TO SAVE PAYDAY LENDING JOBS

Leaders of Ohio’s payday loan industry, along with hundreds of employees and customers, will hold a rally on Tuesday, May 6 at the state capitol.

They will call on Senators to reject House legislation which caps the annual interest rates on payday loans at 28% — eliminating the industry in More than 6,000 jobs are at stake.

Industry representatives and its supporters will explain the impact of House-passed legislation on workers, the economy and on working families in Ohio.

WHAT: Rally and press conference to discuss impact of House-passed legislation on Ohio’s leading payday lending companies.

WHO: Payday lending employees and customers, other supporters of the industry

WHERE: North Steps, State Capitol Building, Columbus, OH

WHEN: Tuesday, May 6th, 11am

As the idiom goes, don’t judge until you’ve walked in someone else’s shoes. The Wallet Pop blogger found himself walking in the shoes of a payday lending customer and, not surprisingly, his opinion of the business changed.

 He writes about it in his latest post

For years, I’ve lived by a couple rules. For instance, I never eat yellow snow, and I never step foot inside one of those payday lending establishments.

Like many Americans, I’ve never had a high opinion of payday lending loan establishments, but earlier this year, utterly broke, I finally broke down.

And what did he learn from his experience?

What I do know is that as lousy as the payday lending industry’s reputation is and as distasteful as their interest rates are, I was glad to have the option of going to a payday lending store when I needed one.

That, however, may not be the case much longer. Payday lending establishments are being put under the microscope by a lot of state governments lately, and there’s a lot of talk of trying to regulate them out of existence.

Once upon a time, I would have said, “Good riddance, get rid of them, all of them.”

And yet — I’m finding myself rethinking all of this and wondering if perhaps the credit card industry and banking industry should be examined more thoroughly first, since those are generally the first places where Americans tend to get into financial trouble. After all, a lot of people use payday loan stores, and it’s likely happening now more than ever. Nationwide, in fact, Americans pay about $5 billion a year to borrow more than $40 billion from payday lenders. So if payday lenders are run out of town, what will happen to people who feel like these places are their last options?

In a new post, Payday Lending, Part I: if you have to do it, how to do it, Wallet Pop (a personal finance blog) discusses his experience in visting a payday lender and provides readers with information in case they find themselves in a similar situation.

Because this is titled “Part 1″, we’ll be sure to post “Part 2″ when we see it.

More than 26,000 letters from payday lending customers and employees have been delivered to state legislators in Ohio.  The customers who’ve actually used the service should be a vital part of the payday lending debate.

From a resident of Columbus, OH:

Asthtabula County doesn’t have a lot of good jobs for people. You do run short paycheck to paycheck!  That’s just a fact of life.  The economy is terrible. Everything goes up–utilities, gas, food, etc.–but your paycheck!  Banks don’t give out loans like they used to (signature loans) or any other small amounts for that fact…I make my own financial decisions and tehse establishments are at least there for us to choose from. Taking these places away would really make things bad for myself and so many others in Ohio.

From a woman in Knox County, OH:

I have used a payday advance and am glad it was there to help me…It is quick, and I don’t have to use any co-signers, collateral, etc. In many cases, these advances help pay for my family’s medical needs….I would like to have the freedom to manage my own finances (including non-intrusive loans) that we, as Americans deserve.

Let’s hope legislators take to heart the opinions of their constituents.

Arizonans for Financial Reform has posted a video testimonial of customers who have actually used a payday loan. Customers explain why they used the service and why it is important for them to have the option. They clearly do not want the government taking their options away.

Go to http://www.affr2008.org/ and click on “testimonials” to view.

This could be a record.  The Payday Pundit is posting TWO fair and balanced stories in a row.  This one out of the Morning News in Northwest Arkansas carries the amazing headline: “Banning Payday Lending May Hurt Some.”   No kidding.

And the reporter, John Henley Jr. actually talked a customer and described his situation:

He has worked for the same company for 14 years and has a checking account, but a two-year dispute with his insurance company ruined his credit and payday loans kept food on his family’s table through February and March.

Kudos to Mr. Henley and the Morning News for looking at the customer perspective and publishing a fair story.

Payday lenders, employees and customers are testifying before the Colorado legislature in an effort to keep their livelihood and consumer finance options intact in the face of special interest groups that want to destroy the payday advance industry.  Some of the key points brought out in this Rocky Mountain News item include: 

          “Employees expressed concern about their jobs, while customers testified that the loans got them through tough times.” 

As the nation totters on the edge of a full-blown recession, should state legislatures really be adding to the problems of unemployment and fewer personal finance options?  You may recall a recent Federal Reserve Bank study that outlined the problems working Americans faced following previous payday advance bans, so why in the world would Colorado want to put its people through the same misery, which may well be even worse if the economy does slip into recession?

Then there’s this little chestnut the special interests like to toss around from time to time when people talk about destroying jobs and eliminating consumer choice by banning the payday advance industry:         

          ‘”Innovative businesses” and credit unions “would step into the void,” he (State Sen. Peter Groff) said.’

Right.  Payday Pundit has already exposed how one credit union plan in Pennsylvania forces customers to borrow more than they need to just so the lender can sock consumers with high loan interest fees while paying a veritable pittance in returns.  Meanwhile other bank fees are soaring.   

And by the way, why would a legislature want to create a marketplace “void,” in the first place?  This just doesn’t pass the smell test.

Between adding to unemployment woes, reducing consumer choice and forcing borrowers into higher priced alternatives, it’s no wonder the Rocky Mountain News has editorialized in favor of letting the payday advance industry remain in marketplace.

Commercials by the Community Financial Services Association feature REAL employees and REAL customers – the two populations whose opinions about payday lending tend to be ignored in the debate.  Unfortunatly, the voices of those who have actually used the product or worked in a store are overshadowed by the shouting of those who’ve never needed a payday loan or stepped foot in a store.