In Florida, payday loan controversy continues to erupt. The latest?

A state unit of EZCorp Inc., one of the nation's largest pawn-shop chains and payday cash advance lenders, is taking heat from state regulators who accuse it of operating unlicensed offices and stonewalling an investigation of its lending activities. The Orlando Sentinel had the report.

EZCorp's Florida operation, which includes EZPawn and EZPawn Money Payday Loan Store, has failed to register with the state or obtain a license to make payday loans, according to a lawsuit filed recently in state Circuit Court in Orlando. Allegedly, EZPawn Florida Inc. unlawfully blocked examiners from inspecting its loan papers and other records.

Specifically, an instance from three months ago involving an EZPawn store on East Colonial Drive in Orlando is cited. Managers at the store refused state agents access to their records. Despite a series of letters and discussions, the payday loan company has refused to cooperate with the state, regulators say.

What the payday loan suit seeks: An order compelling the company to let regulators inspect the books and records at the Colonial Drive location. It also seeks an administrative fine of $1,000 a day until the company complies.

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They won't get away with this! A few payday loan stores have been robbed around the nation, but authorities in Florida have a few leads about a recent crime spree in Broward County.

The Sheriff's Office believes two men and a young woman are behind a series of robberies over the past five weeks; the latest of which took place at Class Jewelers, 3756 W. Hillsboro Blvd. So why is the Payday Loan Times Police Blotter all over the story?

Detectives said the same man and woman robbed Fast Payday Loans, 548 E. Commercial Blvd, on June 30. Their first robbery occurred June 10 at another payday advance operation - when two men stole cash at gunpoint from the clerk at the Check N Go, 3628 W. Hillsboro Blvd.

While it's natural that crooks would look to these businesses - because they carry a lot of cash on hand - that doesn't make it any more right. Anyone with information on the robbery of cash loan stores should stp forward.

Kris Fulcher - featured in a recent article in The Pensacola New Journal - understands the dangers involved in payday loans. However, the Navy Hospital medical assistant, isn't worried about her finances because she's not a frequent cash loan borrower.

"You have to be careful," Fulcher said after she walked out of a cash advance center on Navy Boulevard with a $100 loan that will cost her $15 in two weeks."I've heard about a lot people who fell into a trap."

Haven't we all? More than 37,000 Floridians took out 20 or more no fax payday loans each in 12 months, according to a 2004 report to the Legislature. Despite legislation changes that imposed more consumer protection regulations on Florida payday loan lenders a few years ago, advocates said the main issue still has not been solved: lending that targets low-income workers, military personnel and others who have little or no savings and live paycheck to paycheck.

"It's predatory lending of the worse kind and they are proliferating across Florida," said Mark Ferrulo, director of the Florida Public Interest Research Group. He's among many Sunshine State consumer group reps concerned about payday loans in the state.

The spread of payday loans: Payday loan centers weren't always so widespread in Pensacola. In fact, none were listed in the phone book until the end of 1999. The influx began soon after legislators put a 30 percent cap on the annual interest rate allowed by car title companies.

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After going through bankruptcy a few years ago, Latoya Gibson thought it was safe to assume that debt collectors would never bother her again.

In her dreams. The 30-year old public housing counselor in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., had the kind of consumer debt that never dies. Zombie debt, some call it.

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, this phenomenon takes place when your credit card company sells off its bad debts. The buyer pays a few pennies for every dollar you owe and tries to turn that investment into a few nickels. They track people down and demand payment.

Often, bad debt buyers or their collection agencies will do one more thing that is especially harmful to your credit rating. It often happens in secret, and is very much illegal: they "re-age" the debt. In other words, they report old debt to a credit bureau as a new obligation.

South Florida consumer advocates, attorneys and debt counselors say re-aging happens all the time, possibly pushing cash-strapped citizens to apply for payday loans and other high-risk alternatives in order to make ends meet. It happens to people who are late on their accounts, too — not strictly those who are delinquent or in bankruptcy.

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According to The Daily Record, consumer advocates may have pitched a shutout during this year’s legislative session, but they're still concerned about the future use of title and payday loans in the city.

Lynn Drysdale, a consumer attorney for Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, was prepared to face a full legislative offensive thie year. Instead, she helped beat back changes to title loan and no faxing payday loan regulations, while helping to preserve local lending regulations.

The session was largely a success for Drysdale, but she worries about the long-term prospects for Florida’s consumer laws. Most legislation in that area aims to weaken consumer protections. 

“It looks like the legislation we were tracking was not successful,” said Drysdale. “That’s good, but the problem is these days that the only legislation filed is harmful. It’s a disturbing trend that you don’t see much filed to protect consumers.”

Drysdale thinks that’s because payday loan lenders make most of the noise to the Legislature. This would explain why interest rate regulations on payday loans may soon be eliminated. Industry groups and individual lenders employ lobbyists every year to pitch legislation. Consumers, on the other hand, lack a unified voice.

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According to The Daily Comet, the Florida Supreme Court recently withdrew an opinion that had voided arbitration clauses in payday loan/check cashing contracts because it was reversed in February by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Florida justices had ruled state courts should decide whether customer payday advance contracts are valid before arbitration provisions could be enforced, but their federal counterparts disagreed, finding that disputes first go to arbitration under federal law.

The case involved a lawsuit that John Cardegna, a Palm Beach County fire-rescue dispatcher, filed against Buckeye Check Cashing Inc. He alleged the $3,000 in fees he was charged for cashing and holding a $300 check for two years amounted to an illegally high interest rate.That issue was put on hold pending the dispute over whether it should be decided in court or through arbitration.

The Florida high court ruled 5-1 last year that it should go to court first for a ruling on whether the payday cash loan contract was valid. The federal justices reversed that decision 7-1, with Justice Clarence Thomas in dissent.

Payday advances made by short-term lending companies before a state law was passed in 2001 to regulate the industry were illegal, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The case involved businesses that, for a fee, issue a cash advance (also known as a payday loan) exchange for post-dated checks that will not be cashed until a later date.

The issue at hand is the fees involved with the service, which exceeded the 18 percent legal limit and the 45 percent level that is considered criminal, according to Christopher Casper, a Tampa lawyer who has filed several lawsuits that are on hold pending the ruling.

"We are going to make every effort to prosecute these claims through class action. There's a lot of victims out there. We're talking about hundreds of thousands of people," Casper said.

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Gov. Jeb Bush signed a law six years ago that sharply reduced the interest rates car title loan companies (similar to payday loan firms) could charge customers in Florida. Title loans are like payday loans in that people who have bad credit and urgent debt problems put up collateral in exchange for instant cash — only in this case, it's not a postdated check, but their car title, which can be repossessed if the consumer doesn't pay.

According to the St. Petersburg Times, what was a 264 percent annual rate was slashed to 30 percent a year in 2000. But title lenders are lobbying the Florida State Legislature to return to the 264 percent limit.

Rep. Chris Smith, House Democratic leader, is pushing the higher interest rates and passed a committee vote Monday after making several changes that quieted some critics, including a $3,000 cap and lender financed credit counseling if the loans are extended for five months.

But as with payday advances, there are many people who stand opposed to such measures. Opponents say high-interest loans trap borrowers in a vicious cycle that can never be broken.

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As various states are urged to fight back against cash loans, these cash advances remain popular in a number of areas around the country. The following is a breakdown of payday loan activity across certain states (based on 2004 data):

• 1,027 loans per 1,000 residents
• 4.4 million payday loans
• 918 payday stores

Jacksonville, FL — The Jacksonville payday loan ordinance crafted by Council President Kevin Hyde is on track for an October 11 vote by the full Council. In addition it still needs approval from the Land Use and Zoning Committee.

The ordinance limits interest rates the cash loan businesses can charge and where they can operate, keeping them away from military bases and each other, and closes loopholes that allowed some of the shadiest lending practices. These include disguising the loans as rebates for other purchases and threatening borrowers with arrest.

The bill contains several provisions specific to military members. Lenders would be prohibited from complaining to commanding officers and using coercive collection methods (in an attempt to receive payment of an outstanding no fax cash loan) while a military member is serving combat duty.