When someone wants your money, they’ll go to quite sneaky lengths to get your business. That’s what one Oregon senator says online loan sharks are doing, by opening on Native American reservations so as to get around state and federal consumer protection laws. State laws don’t work on tribal lands, a situation which has turned such lands into veritable havens for payday lenders trying to skirt regulation. [More]
payday loans
Online Payday Loan Peddlers Apparently Skirting The Law By Setting Up Shop On Reservations
By 11.5.12
City Attorney Using That Song Everyone Knows To Call Attention To Payday Loan Settlement
By 9.19.12
If there’s some possible way you’ve avoided hearing that pop song where the girl is like hey perhaps you should ring me on the telephone (paraphrasing so as not to unintentionally force you to get it in your head), then we applaud you on your success. But because it seems most of the country, if not the galaxy has heard it, it makes sense that the city attorney for San Francisco is trying to use the song’s popularity in order to spread the word to potential claimants about a recent payday loan settlement. [More]
FTC: Payday Lender Can't Avoid Prosecution By Claiming Tribal Affiliation
By 4.3.12
A Colorado payday loan operation that allegedly piled on undisclosed and inflated fees — and which attempted to avoid prosecution by claiming affiliation with Native American tribes — has been sued by the Federal Trade Commission, which says the sovereign immunity laws don’t prevent investigations by the feds. [More]
FTC Gets Some PayDay Lenders To Halt Garnishing Wages Without Court Order
By 9.14.11
A group of nine South Dakota-based payday lenders — doing business under at least 17 different names, but all sharing a common senior executive — has agreed to stop garnishing wages from customers with delinquent accounts, at least until there is some sort of conclusion to the Federal Trade Commission lawsuit against them. [More]
FTC Squashes Payday Site For Putting $54.95 Charge For Empty Debit Card In Fine Print
By 10.6.10
You’re broke. How would you like a $54.95 debit card? It’s empty, but if you ever do get any money, you can put up to $2,500 on it. Yay. If that doesn’t sound like a bargain, it’s no wonder that one internet marketer of payday loan referral sites was hiding the fact that he was signing you up for these dodo cards via a pre-checked checkbox on the signup form, and the FTC smacked him down for it. [More]
FDIC Says Pilot Program Offers Alternative to Payday Loans
By 6.25.10
The FDIC has announced the results of a two-year pilot program designed to help banks offer alternatives to payday loans that would be “safe, affordable and feasible.” Under the test program, participating banks offered loans of up to $2,500 at maximum interest rates of 36% — instead of the 400% offered by some payday lenders. [More]
Rent-A-Center Responds To Predatory Lending Infographic
By 5.20.10
Sonia, Rent-a-Center’s Public & Community Affairs person, saw our popular post, “How Predatory Lending Works, From Payday Loans To Rent-To-Own” and has a rebuttal that shows how they do math. I showed it to Jess, the creator of the infographic, and he has a rebuttal to the rebuttal. Let the chips fall where they may: [More]
How Predatory Lending Works, From Payday Loans To Rent-To-Own
By 5.12.10
You’re a savvy, savvy consumer. You pay your credit card bills in full every month, auto-deduct a generous portion of your paycheck into savings, invest in index funds, and always make sure you’re getting the best deal from your cable and wireless providers. Unfortunately, some of your brethren do not read Consumerist and can get caught up in the jaws of predatory lenders, wasting limited cash on things like payday loans, bad credit cards, and using rent-to-own stores. So let’s take a walk down the wild side and see how each of these bad choices work, in a giant infographic, courtesy of Mint and WallStats, after the jump. [More]
Pay Off $50k In Debt On A $20k Salary In 10 Steps And 5 Years
By 12.4.09
This 30-year old receptionist and single mother of 3 climbed out of a $50,000 debt hole in 5 years using these 10 steps. [More]
Lose Your Job? Don't Worry, Our Exorbitant Payday Loan Fees Are On Us
By 8.13.09
Do you need cash right now, but are worried that you might lose your job in the next two weeks? Guarantees for customers who lose their jobs have worked for Hyundai, Ford, GM, and Sears, so now the practice has expanded to the payday loan industry.
Wave Of Fake Debt Collectors Hints At Possible Data Breach
By 8.4.09
The Better Business Bureau has released a warning to be aware of scammers calling to threaten people with arrest “within the hour” for defaulting on payday loans. What makes them stand out from normal debt collecting scammers is these callers have huge amounts of personal info on their victims, including Social Security and drivers license numbers; old bank account numbers; names of employers, relatives, and friends; and home addresses.
Study Shows People Take Out Loans At 400% Even When They Do Know Better
By 7.24.09
Why would you ever take out a loan at 400% interest? Because you’re absolutely desperate, or because you have no idea what 400% interest actually means. Well, many people do it every two weeks. It’s called a payday loan, and Slate has an article discussing the findings of a recent study on these “storefront loan sharks”.
Most Payday Loans Are To Repay Other Payday Loans
By 7.14.09
Listen to the payday loan industry and their apologists and they’ll try to tell you that their customers are savvy and just need of a break to tide them over. But a new survey (PDF) shows that most payday loans are to repay other payday loans. Of the 80% of borrowers who take out multiple payday loans in a year:
House Preparing To Legalize Payday Loans With 391% APRs
By 4.5.09
A House subcommittee wants to legalize payday loans with interest rates of up to 391%. Lobbyists from the payday industry bought Congress’ support by showering influential members, including Chairman Luiz Gutierrez, with campaign cash. The Congressman is now playing good cop, bad cop with the payday industry, which is pretending to oppose his generous gift of a bill.
National Usury Limit Could Reduce Number Of People Paying Debt Until They Die
By 3.11.09
For about 30 years, there has been effectively no limit on the interest rates lenders can charge. This means some loans—especially payday loans, tax refund anticipation loans, overdraft protection loans, and car title loans—can have effective interest rates as high as 3,500%.
Fake Debt Collectors Are Trying To Intimidate You Out Of Your Money
By 8.21.08
ABCNews says that the West Virginia Attorney General is warning people about fake debt collectors who will call you repeatedly at home and at work, threatening you with arrest for not paying a debt… that doesn’t even exist.
Ohio Payday Lenders Lie, Bribe The Homeless In Attempt To Overturn Usury Limits
By 8.16.08
Ohio payday lenders, still smarting from their punch in the face, are turning to lies and deceit to qualify a ballot initiative that would overturn the state’s recently approved usury limits. The industry’s petition gatherers are telling people that the initiative would “lower interest rates,” even though it would raise the maximum allowable APR from 28% to an astounding 391%. They’re also giving dollars to illiterate homeless people who sign the petition.
Ohio Senate Passes Strict Lending Legislation, Prepares To Punch Payday Lenders In The Face
By 5.14.08
House Bill 545 would slash the current interest rates charged by payday lenders to 28 percent, down from 391 percent, prohibit loans terms of less than 31 days, and limit borrowers to four loans per year. It would ban Internet payday lending, and it also attempts to encourage lenders to get into the small-loan business.
