WJLA reports: The new law limits borrowers to one payday loan at a time and extends the amount of time they have to repay it.

The Progressive Index newspaper of Virginia.   Where do we begin? How about with:

A payday lender might also require you to pay an additional service or processing fee of as much as $25, making the cost of the $100 loan even higher.

We know of no payday lending that charges processing fees.  We don’t believe they are discussing payday loans here.

Payday lenders are illegal in many states.

Payday lenders aren’t “illegal” anywhere.  Some states make it unprofitable.

The City Council struck a deal with payday lenders.  Lenders will fund a financial literacy program.  Here’s the story in the Alexandria Times. 

Read all about it here.

From the Alexandria (Virginia) Times:

Predatory Shakedown

Councilman Justin Wilson has abandoned his bid to raise taxes on car-title lenders and payday lenders to the highest possible rate available under Virginia law. Instead he offered a “voluntary program” Tuesday night in which industry officials agreed to make ongoing commitments to fund financial literacy programs in Alexandria.

Wilson said he felt this was “a good start” and that he expected the General Assembly to take up the issue of car-title lenders next year. Meanwhile, he said, the city’s next legislative packet could include support for a car-title reform effort similar to the one crafted for the payday lending industry earlier this year. He offered the motion as measure that would “pass by indefinitely” so he could threaten to bring the tax hike at any time.

“There’s no reason we can’t move forward with this in the future,” he said. “This is not done.”

…So said David Clarke of Virginians against Payday Loans today while speaking at the national conference on debt culture. Discussing the debate over payday lending in Virginia, Clarke stated, “The printed press- the earned media- they were clearly with us.” 

While the Payday Pundit recognizes this was, in fact, the case, she is speechless.

From the Alexandria Gazette:

THE NEW TAXES and fees created about $18 million in new revenue, and Hartmann’s cost-saving measures created about $2.3 million in spending reductions. Yet one potential new source of revenue was delayed Monday night. Councilman Justin Wilson’s proposal to raise taxes on payday lenders and car-title lenders, which he called “predatory lending institutions,” was put on hold after several industry representatives publicly threatened a lawsuit if the City Council decides to move forward with the plan. Although council members did not vote on this particular ordinance last night, the budget includes the new revenue from the tax and spending line items include funding for the financial literacy programs that Wilson’s plan suggested.

“We don’t want to get involved in a lengthy legal fight that will swallow up all the potential new revenues,” said Wilson. “So rather than saying ‘damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead’ we are going to see if we can have a meeting of the minds with the industry.”

So says a wise Virginian in this letter to the editor in the Daily Press.   Mr. Gerald Ross of Hampton says he’s never used a payday loan, but thinks the responsibility for personal financial decisions should be up to the individual, not the government.

The Payday Pundit agrees.  

Funny blurb from the local Alexandria, Virginia newspaper:

“All lenders don’t treat everybody the same,” said former City Councilman Lonnie Rich, representing LoanMax before the elected officials. “Everybody can’t walk down to Burke and Herbert to get a loan.” 

According to this piece, people are bringing their gold to pawnshops to get enough money to fill their gas tanks before payday.   From the article:

   “We’ve got people from Williamsburg and different places that have never been in a pawn shop, and they are a little bit nervous coming in until they talk to my husband,” said Epstein.

    Mercury Pawn is also seeing more people come in because of gas prices.

Last sentence of the article mentions payday lending as another business that’s seeing a pickup in customers.    The Payday Pundit keeps seeing this assertion in the media, but there’s really been no evidence of it.