Sacramento Bee doesn’t do its homework
August 4, 2008 | Sacramento Bee, media coverage | Comments (1)
Today’s Sacramento Bee article by Claudia Buck blames payday lenders for the financial troubles many members of the military have found themselves in. The article failes to mention that, as of October 1, 2007, payday lenders do not lend to military personnel due to the restrictive rate caps that would cause lenders to lose money on each loan. Geesh…if you are going to blame payday lenders, at least get the facts right.
Comments»
I stand corrected. The bill was signed into law in October 2006, but became effective in October 2007. Many payday lenders stopped lending to the members of the military as soon as the bill was signed into law.
You actually need to do your homework as well, FOIAd information has revealed since the bill’s passage, that installment lenders, auto loans and other personal loans made up the bulk of debt. While critics blamed payday lenders, the facts in no way supported their case.
Either way, members of the military are now left without a short-term credit option and forced into other products they had previously tried to avoid. You’d have to ask individuals if this is good or bad for them.