This may not be the last time James Evans (pictured) hears criticism about his payday loan views.

In the Salt Lake Tribune, Lt. Col. Craig S. Cook, shares his feelings regarding Evans, chairman of the Salt Lake County Republican Party, for readers. We've paraphrased the letter below:

In numerous interviews against Mayor Rocky Anderson, Evans hproclaimed that he and his party "support our troops." He planned and spoke at the pro-Bush rallies "to show our support for our troops." But does this run counter to his view on instant payday loans?

After all, this is the same James Evans who reportedly owns and operates payday advance/check-cashing businesses. Republican-controlled Utah is one of only 10 states in the country that does not have a cap or a maximum interest rate on these types of bad credit payday loans.

The Center for Responsible Lending, a nonpartisan research group, states: "Payday lenders, who typically require borrowers to endorse a postdated check, trap borrowers in a cycle of debt at annual percentage rates of 400 percent."

Even worse are the affects on the armed forces. The Pentagon asked Congress for federal legislation to place an annual 36 percent ceiling on short-term loans made to members of the military recently. The report also showed that the number of security clearance denials for financial reasons jumped 10 times from fiscal 2002 to 2006.

With such information about military payday loans on hand, Cook had one question:

Is Mr. Evans supporting our troops or are they actually supporting him?

Simply because the Mississippi Center for Justice is pushing for new restrictions on payday cash advance lenders doesn't mean changes are inevitable in the state.

There's still a great deal of convincing to be done.

A key legislator whose support would be needed to change state law says the businesses are lenders of last resort. David B. Miller, staff attorney for the Mississippi Center for Justice, said the intention is not to shut down faxless payday loan providers, but to require better reporting.

"One thing we want to find out from a reporting bill is the frequency that the typical borrower borrows the money," Miller said to the Sun Herald. "If we find that the borrower is paying interest on the same loan for extended periods of time, that's not an emergency situation. It's one that needs to be policed because it simply traps people in a cycle of debt."

State law allows people to borrow up to $400 with a fee of $18 for every $100. The occasionally low fee payday loans are secured by a personal check and the full principal is due on payday. Figured annually, it amounts to 468 percent. Miller believes the fees should be lowered.

But Rep. Danny Guice, R-Ocean Springs, who chairs the House Banking Committee, counters that the fees are still cheaper than chasing a trail of bounced checks. Payday advance lenders are already regulated.

"When we enacted the legislation that's the law now, some of the lenders were charging $35 and $40 per $100," Guice said. "We have a first-rate banking department and banking commissioner, John Allison. He and I think a lot alike. As long as you know what the rules are and operate along the rules, you're fine. If you operate outside the rules, he's going to nail you to the wall."

The problem with the current payday loan online regulations, Miller said, is that the reporting records are kept in paper form. An electronic database would allow state regulators to see what percentage of people get trapped in debt by extending loans or taking multiple loans, he said.

Guice said privacy issues might prevent such information-gathering, but Miller said a system could be set up that takes this into consideration.The law that regulates the lenders sunsets next year, Guice said, and his committee will review the codes in the next legislative session.

Also, Guice said he believes the legal advocacy groups want to make it hard for the payday advance loan companies to do business. Miller counters that laws aren't stricter because the people affected aren't politically powerful.

Sometimes, payday advance operators get slapped with a fine or suspension of their business.

Other times, however, the crime deserves a harsher, more permanent penalty.

Such is a recent case in Washington. Regulators of fast payday loans in the state have cracked down on Expressit Inc. and its owners, Carl and Elaine Ehresman. They've imposed a lifetime ban from the industry on the Expressit owners.

The Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) said the owners have agreed to the ban, while also agreeing to pay more than $300,000 in restitution to more than 350 customers.

The state alleged that the Lacey-based owners violated various lending laws, including:

• Making quick payday loans without a license
• Failing to provide written agreements or disclosures to borrowers
• Making loans with fees in excess of legal limits
• Refinancing payday cash loans with proceeds from other loans.

"The Ehresmans … have 30 days to make restitution to 352 consumers and must provide DFI with documented proof following its completion," DFI officials said in a statement.

In Nashville, WKRN often runs ethics investigations into local, questionable practices.

On Thursday, the target of one of these reports? Contributions made to a political campaign by a powerful, payday loan couple.

Evidently, secret payments were made to Senator Jerry Cooper by a lobbyist and her husband, a wealthy businessman. In 2000, Jerry Cooper received $35,000 from Steve and Brenda McKenzie.

This pair made its millions by starting a chain of successful instant payday loan businesses in strip malls and poor neighborhoods. A year earlier, the McKenzies sent Cooper $35,000, legislation unanimously passed through Cooper's committee essentially preventing the state from shutting down the payday loan industry.

A bit sketchy indeed.

During the year 2000, when Cooper was getting the money from the cash loan couple, Brenda was a registered lobbyist on Capitol Hill for the Payday Loan and Check Cashing Industry. Retired FBI agent Hank Hillian said:

“I don't like it. If this is influence buying, it's wrong and that's why you really need to look into something like this."

While McKenzie describes the payments as a loan, Senator Cooper apparently did not see it that way, as that cash is nowhere to be found on Senator Cooper’s financial disclosure statement, where public officials must disclose "Loans for more than $1,000."

The TV station had questions about this contribution from faxless payday loan advocates and called the senator's office. No one has called back yet.

The station did, however, talk to State Senate Majority Leader, Ron Ramsey, who also serves as Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee. He said that as soon as he heard about this information, he called key officers of Tennessee's recently created Ethics Commission to investigate.

The Ethics Commission will begin its work on October 1.

It's not a great time to be an online payday loan company servicing California.

Four businesses of this nature were ordered to stop conducting int he state in because they're not licensed in there, regulators said.

The California Department of Corporations identified the companies as Ameriloan.com, USFastCash.com, PreferredCashLoans.com and UnitedCashLoans.com. The desist-and-refrain order further forbids Internet Cash Advance Marketing Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia, and President Clive L. Boulton from offering or arranging payday loans for the online companies without a state license, officials said.

"Online deferred deposit transactions present a risk to California consumers, and may unfairly target military personnel," said Corporations Commissioner Preston DuFauchard.

"In addition, allowing unlicensed Deferred Deposit (aka payday loan online lenders to operate in the state unfairly penalizes those companies that are properly licensed and examined by the department. The risks presented by this type of unlawful activity require swift and substantial enforcement response."

Last November, a Southern California customer of USFastCash was levied fees and charges in excess of the amount allowed under state law, according to the DOC's Susie Wong.

To date, the department has issued enforcement actions to 40 no faxing payday loan providers operating in violation of state law. More will probably follow.

So, you're interested in a no fax payday loan, but are a bit unclear on the details? A new site aims to help.

WatchYourWealth.com contains a wealth of information on personal finance, credit reporting, consumer loans, and investing.

At launch, the site contains over 50 information-laden articles, several book reviews, and financial calculators, all aimed at answering questions concerning the use of bad credit payday loans and other fiscal tools. It also educates on how to credit.

"We try to provide the type of information that the credit reporting and financial industry doesn't want you to know."

Featured articles include:

• The possible pitfalls of payday loans
• The little-known credit to auto insurance connection
• How to opt-out of pre-approved credit offers

In a few months, the site will launch a credit card comparison tool where consumers can compare the hidden information that only appears in the fine print.

For now, it's another resource readers can use to determine whether or not it's a good idea to apply for an online payday advance.

Out with the old, in with the new: New forms of credit scoring use your payment record on utility bills, rental units and payday loans to assess your ability to repay loans.

Approximately 50 million individuals are locked out of access to credit because they lack the credit history needed to generate a decent FICO score. Fair Isaac Corp., the company that pioneered this form of credit scoring, however, is now offering a new product: the FICO Expansion score.

One of the thing it will take into account? Your faxless payday loan payment history.

Along with other players in this rapidly expanding market, Fair Isaac hopes to attract lenders eager to expand their customer base.

"One of the problems for people who don't have good FICO scores is the collection of enough positive data to make the score an effective predictive tool," says Tena Friery, research director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a California-based consumer advocacy group. "This score has the potential to give people the chance to own a home who otherwise wouldn't be able to get into the market."

How do any sort of fast payday loans relate to the FICO Expansion score? Drawing on alternative credit data such as bank account records, cash advance payment records and installment purchase plans, Fair Isaac produces a credit score that is modeled on the traditional FICO score's 300-to-850 point range.

"In developing the Expansion score, Fair Isaac analyzed anonymous alternative credit data to statistically determine what factors are most predictive of future credit performance," said Lisa Nelson, vice president of business operations for Fair Isaac in an appearance before the House Financial Services Committee in May 2006.

The new system excludes factors considered less than pertinent to one's trustworthiness as a consumer. But how quickly you pay back a cash loan is certainly indicative of your financial future and is taken into consideration.

The future of regular and online payday loans is looking strong at the moment in Canada. 

The federal government probably won't move any time soon to crack down on the cash advance industry in the state.

Justice Minister Vic Toews said the issue is under consideration, but isn't among his immediate priorities. Toews placed several criminal law issues top his fall agenda.

Neverthelesss, he plans to introduce legislation eventually that would let the provinces set and police interest rates on cash loans of all kinds.

Currently, the federal Criminal Code limits annual interest rates to 60 percent, but the limit has rarely been imposed on short-term loans. The Manitoba government has already introduced a bill to limit interest rates on no faxing payday loans, but can't act before the federal bill is passed.

Evidently, military payday loans have pulled off a feat most issues don't even come close to accomplishing:

They've made Republicans and Democrats agree!

A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers on Thursday backed legislation limiting instant payday loans made to troops and vowed they’ll fight to keep the language in next year’s defense budget.

“This has become a readiness problem,” said Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo. “They’re targeting younger troops. Our fine young men and women are dedicated and great warriors, but many are not sophisticated in finances. This becomes a distraction from their mission.”

Of course, representatives from the payday advance lending industry don't agree. They said they aren’t targeting military bases and do provide an important service. They still expect Congress will ultimately kill the proposed limits.

Critics of faxless online payday loans have complained that lenders often entice troops and their families with the allure of short-term cash without fully explaining their fee structure, with charges that equate to a 400 percent or higher annual interest rate. Last month the Defense Department agreed, releasing a report labeling the instant loan industry a “predatory problem” and backing the rate caps.

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Don't worry, The News Journal inn Wilmington wants to tell residents, low-income consumers will have financial alternatives by this time next year.

Community activists, led by the Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council, are planning to launch a credit union that they say will cater to the needs of low-income people living and working in the state's largest city.

One of the main purposes will be to provide individuals with an alternative to high-interest online payday loans, said Rashmi Rangan, executive director of the Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group focused on banking.

She said the credit union, which hopes to open for business in mid-2007, will make loans with low double-digit interest to eligible members. This would run in opposition to the fees charged on most faxless payday loans in the state.

Payday advance proliferation: Payday advances are widespread in Delaware because the state imposes no cap on the interest lenders can charge. Rangan couldn't provide an estimate for how much money is lent annually across the state, but statistics from the bank commissioner's office show that there are 20 fast payday loan lending locations in the Wilmington area alone.

That's a lot.

About two dozen people are involved with organizing the credit union idea.

"We see this as a great opportunity to help people better manage their credit, and we see it as an opportunity to give people access to loans without losing the shirts off their backs," said Lance Bruce, chairman of the 3rd District Planning Council, a Wilmington community group supporting the credit union.

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