Legislators across the country are beginning to crack down on payday lenders, saying that these groups take advantage of those who can’t manage their finances. Now, the payday lenders industry group has responded with a new ad campaign. Their latest commercial states that payday loans are only for emergencies, not for long-term use, and that people should only borrow what they can.
What a joke! Payday lenders are predatory lenders, pure and simple, charging triple-digit interest rates in most cases. And if you talk to anyone who owns a shop or look at the research, you will find that they make almost all their money off of return customers. These customers get trapped in a endless cycle of being a little short each paycheck. And if the well runs dry and the person can’t pay, the shop turns the account over to collections and moves on the next customer (victim).
For example, in Las Vegas there are hundreds of payday lendors. Are there really that many people who have an emergency need for cash at any given time? And what did these people do for cash before payday lenders? Why is it such an urgent need all of a sudden?
Payday lenders were banned in Georgia in 2004, and there were no dire consequences from it. Payday lenders should be banned nationwide, or at least heavily regulated. If certain businesses have lost all sense of responsibility to the community, then the government and citizens should step in to confront these predatory operations.
