Various Oregon Citizens Support Payday Loan Use
By J.J. CameronPayday Loan Writer
Cliff Voss was short on cash and needed to make truck payments. But when he strolled down to the Advance America payday loan center in Ashland, the office was closed. He had to head to Medford.
"They’re your last resort to save your ass if you’re a working-class schmo like myself,” Voss said. “My family and my friends don’t have any money to lend, and I’m not the type of person to ask my boss for it. If you’re a person on your own, you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.”
Voss is a line cook at a restaurant in Ashland and had just got back from a vacation with his girlfriend. Not receiving a fast cash advance would probably mean more debt because of late insurance and car payments.
The payday loan business is facing a growing battle in the Oregon Legislature. The voice of consumers such as Voss - actually showing support for these resources - needs to be heard. He said he has received about 10 payday loans in his life and, despite the astronomical fees, he has always paid them back on time. He has no regrets.
“There’s a little suffering involved in it,” Voss said. “But I think Advance America is really there to help you out even if the fee is a little steep for someone in a tight situation.”
Payday loan critics
Linda Cade, a councilor for Consumer Credit Council Service of Southern Oregon in Medford, said that she deals with all sorts of debt and credit type situations, and people in debt because of payday loans are of the most helpless.
The main problem, Cade said, is that people who take out these cash loans do not have a home to leverage, so when they get into debt, there is nothing to fall back on.
“When people get into the payday loan merry-go-round, it’s not just one loan. It’s always at least three or four,” Cade said.
Patty Wentz, a spokeswoman for Our Oregon, a nonprofit group that is pushing for a Payday Loan Reform Act, said that while payday loans may seem like the last resort for people like Voss, there may be other options, such as joining the Rogue Federal Credit Union, which offers payday loans for members at lower rates.
The reform act that Wentz and other groups are pushing for would set a cap on the interest rates companies can charge for overdue payday loans, establish a 10 percent origination fee and give people 31 days to pay back their loans. It's an issue that will remain in the news for some time to come now.
