Virgina Editoral Finds Irony in Payday Loan Robberies
By J.J. CameronPayday Loan Writer
Don't get Tamara Dietrich wrong. The Daily Press scribe hopes police catch the individual that's been robbing payday loan stores in the state.
But that doesn't mean the writer can't find irony in the situation. We paraphrased her recent take on the topici below:
There's rich irony in that this bandit targets fast payday loan lenders, making off with lots of cash with no credit check, no collateral and zero interest.
Is he a former disgruntled loanee skewered by triple-digit interest rates? Was he or a loved one sucked into the black hole of payday loan debt? Or is he just another criminal opportunist, ripping off cash loan stores because that's where they keep the money?
Thank goodness no one's been hurt. And, once again, there's never a good excuse for armed robbery. On the other hand, there's never a good excuse for unarmed robbery, either, even when it's sanctioned by the state. This thug might use a firearm to extract money from his victims, but online payday loan lenders - and their close cousins, car title lenders - don't need one.
They've got loopholes and fine print, savvy lobbyists, campaign contributions to dole out like party favors, a desperate or gullible customer base, and an enabling General Assembly. Thursday, Dietrich received a call from a reader scrambling for a lifeline out of his own "morass" of nine payday loans.
"You can't imagine to what depth I regret ever having gotten hooked up with these places," said the man, named Walter.
He said he owes $4,600 to these payday advance lenders. The monthly interest of $624 comes out of his retirement and Social Security checks. Two credit counseling places told him that they couldn't help.
"The only thing - but I hate to do it, and the Lord knows I hate to do it - I was thinking about going to a lawyer to wipe it all out," Walter said. "I think he would tell me I have to go to bankruptcy, and I was just wondering, would there be any other road to recovery?"
Such a plight, his naivete and Dietrich's total inability to do anything for him, depressed the writer. She suggested he put his question to state lawmakers and gave him contact information. It was state lawmakers, after all, who in 2002 officially gave providers of cheap payday loans clear access to people such as Walter.
Let them see the mess they made. Then let them clean it up. For that matter, if you're in a similar mess - or if you're doing just fine but don't happen to like seeing the Walters of this state fed to the wood chipper - contact lawmakers yourself.
In January, the General Assembly will have the chance to consider bills to restrict no fax needed payday loan lenders. With a boatload of luck, a massive push from the electorate and an ounce of moral fortitude, they could even pass HB619, sponsored by John O'Bannon, R-Richmond, to repeal the Payday Loan Act altogether.
People like Jay Speer, executive director of the Virginia Poverty Law Center, are hopeful.
"I think legislators are getting very upset," Speer says. "I think the momentum is swinging our way."
Especially after the Pentagon's recent report about predatory military payday loan lenders targeting the armed forces. The report urged a national annual percentage rate cap of 36 percent on loans to service members.
But even if Congress passes such a law, it won't directly help people like Walter. Speer's advice for the Walters of the world? Cancel your checking account, for one. If lenders threaten to throw you in jail for writing bad checks, remind them that this state actually allows people to write bad checks to payday lenders. Also, Social Security checks are protected from creditors.
When people get snared in payday loan debt, Speer says, that's often when they turn to the people they should have turned to in the first place: family, friends, churches, employers, the United Way or similar groups.
