The Community Financial Services Association of America has just issued a press release slamming the recent Reuters story which blamed the mortgage crisis on payday lenders.  The Reuters article is purely anecdotal and those anecdotes come from known payday lending critics. The reporter did not call CFSA or anyone from within the industry for a comment.  Here is what D. Lynn DeVault, CFSA President, said in the release:

“While it’s become fashionable to blame payday lenders for all of society’s ills, it is preposterous and irresponsible to blame a $300 loan for the nation’s mortgage crisis.”

There are plenty of good, fact-based explanations of why this nation is facing a tough economic road ahead.  Here is an excellent one from the NewsHour on PBS that uses an interesting technique to explain the mortgage crisis.  But no one (not even the Center for Responsible Lending–before this Reuters story that is) has asserted that payday loans have anything to do with the mortgage meltdown.