Troubled Cash Loan Lender Still Causing Problems for Former Clients
By J.J. CameronPayday Loan Writer
The mess created by one Arkansas payday loan lender continues to get messier. 
While a regulatory agency continues to gather evidence against an Dennis Bailey - who operated payday lending stores without a state license and was fined $1.3 million for the violant - store officials continue to harass customers who refuse to pay their low fee payday loans, said Peggy Matson, executive director of the Check-Cashers Division of the Arkansas State Board of Collection Agencies.
In June, the ASBCA ordered Bailey's 14 stores in the state to close, fined him and stated all transactions were null and void - but Matson said Bailey continues to collect cash advance loan payments illegally through BMB Finance, a West Plains, Mo., company. Bailey is appealing the agency's administrative order.
The ASBCA advised Bailey's customers to go to their banks and put a stop payment on their checks or electronic debits. Some customers who put a stop payment on their electronic debits found money still was being withdrawn because Bailey withdrew less than the amount put on the stop payment, Matson said. He's a slippery criminal.
Meanwhile, Harrison Fast Cash in Boone County, owned by Bailey, has re-opened and the agency cannot close the store because it also offers a budget phone service and money orders, Matson said.
Bailey had no comment, but his attorney, Paul Johnson of Little Rock, stated in an appeal that the ASBCA order violates the Constitution, was not supported by evidence and was an abuse of discretion. A Pulaski County judge has yet to rule on the appeal.
Moreover, in the case that won't end, Matson said two people, one of whom is Bailey's relative, have applied for a state license for the instant payday loan stores.
