ACORN (one of the so-called consumer groups that has lobbied for a ban on payday lending) is again being accused of voter fraud.  As reported in the Kansas City Star, they “clogged the system” by hiring workers who submitted registrations with fake names, addresses and signatures.

Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union and the National Consumer Law Center have given two more states failing grades for offering choices to consumers.  Illinois and Missouri received straight F’s for having a multitude of short term credit options available to consumers.

Ryan Cooper, a freelance writer, is convinced more than ever that the free market offers consumers the most choices: 

The decision haunted me as I read the online bank statement. A combination of holiday spending, personal property taxes and a recent job loss caused me to overdraw my checking account.

If I didn’t come up with $200 by 7 p.m., I would bounce four checks. Each bounced check fee was about $30, for a total of $120.

In addition, my bounce protection only covers up to $350. After that amount, each check keeps bouncing until paid.

I had two options. I could cover the difference by returning every Christmas gift and pawning valuables. Or I could borrow money from a payday loan business.

I chose the payday loan option. I didn’t want to punish my children for circumstances beyond their control.

The whole column is a good read.

Tom Linafelt of QC Holdings, a leading payday lender out of Missouri, takes on a local newspaper columnist.   From Tom’s rebuttal piece in the Springfield News-Leader.

Missouri payday lending laws already include some of the strongest consumer protections in the country. By including limits on loans, loan renewals and associated fees, those laws protect consumers from creating a “cycle of debt” and from experiencing the kinds of annualized percentage rates referenced by industry critics.

These are the kinds of strong consumer protections the payday lending industry consistently supports.

Let’s give reasonable, hard-working Springfield-area consumers access to a variety of regulated credit options and trust them to make financial decisions based on what’s best for them and their families.

The Center for Consumer Freedom had this to say in response to an anti-payday lending editorial in a Missouris newspaper:

Borrowers are best served when they have more choices to pick from, not when politicians eliminate what is for many their only option.

The full letter is here. 

Show-Me Daily offers their take on Tuesday’s disappointing vote in Kansas City.  Unfortunately, when legislation like this is passed, it’s not just businesses that suffer.  Consumers end up feeling the squeeze. 

Justin Hauke of the Show-Me Institute provided some interesting numbers yesterday on payday loans in Missouri. Hauke’s numbers highlight that despite triple-digit annual interest rates which people commonly cite, customers only pay a fraction of that in fees. What’s more:

Before readers are outraged at the interest rates being charged on such loans, it’s worth considering the annual interest charged on other consumer products. The perfect example is late fees on video rentals. For example, despite the fact that Blockbuster advertises a “no late fee” policy, the company in fact charges a $1.50 restocking fee for rentals more than eight days past due. If you consider an average rental cost of $5, this restocking fee would translate into a simple interest rate of 1,369 percent if expressed as an annual rate (assuming no compounding). But nobody accuses Blockbuster of being usurious.

Just some food for thought.

Rep. John Patrick Burnett a Democrat representing a district in Kansas City, MO calls the Payday Pundit a “phony blog.”  Representative Burnett, just because you don’t agree with something doesn’t make it phony.

There is nothing phony about the hundreds of people employed by payday lenders in Missouri.  Or the tens of thousands of hard-working Missourians who appreciate access to cash between paychecks and use payday loans to avoid bounced check/overdraft and late bill payment fees.

Rep. Burnett, if you were to simply click on the “about us” section, you’d find that Payday Pundit is the official blog of the Community Financial Services Association of America, the national trade association of payday lenders.   CFSA members operate around 288 storefronts in Missouri and 150 in Kansas.

Last fall the Kansas City City Council passed new zoning regulations and additional restrictions on payday lenders, but the Council does not have the staff to oversee the new regulations, so they are now asking voters to approve a $1,000 annual fee per payday lending business in order to pay for 2-3 staff to oversee the new regulations. 

So, under the guise of “protecting consumers”, the Council passes more regulations, then wants to charge an extra $1000 per year per payday lender, a fee which will likely be passed on to their customers.  

Who exactly is being “protected?”

*Yossarian