Those that complain about the unfair practices of no faxing payday loan lenders often forget one fact:

Consumers are privy to a slew of federal protections. Whether these are related to opening savings accounts, taking out cash loans or trying to build a good credit record, individuals have an assortment of rights.

"There's a broad array of consumer protection laws that relate to financial activities," said Bob Mooney, deputy director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s division of supervision and consumer protection. "Some have been around for a while, and we've come to take them for granted."

For example, the Truth in Lending Act should be understood by all payday loan applicants. Enacted by Congress in 1968, the law is designed to make sure lenders disclose ALL costs in their loan agreements.

Thanks to this legislation, clients can get information about annual percentage rates and late fees when they borrow money through cheap payday loan providers or sign up for credit cards, Mooney said. The disclosure is required before credit is extended and, in some cases, it also must be included in periodic billing statements.

"Consumers can use this information to compare credit products to determine which is the most cost-effective for them," Mooney said. "This is particularly important with credit cards, payday loans and other types of credit."

Therefore, as those who defend payday loans would state, the practice may not be so unfair. Individuals need to ask questions and realize they have the right to various answers.

As Joe R. Campa Jr. was sworn in as the Navy's 11th Master Chief Petty Officer this week, most of the day's attention was focused on his predecessor.

Terry D. Scott received praised for being an exceptional leaders at the ceremony at the Washington Navy Yard. Aside from actual battles, one of the struggled Scott focused on for awhile? The military payday loan issue.

Until his very last day in office, Scott worked for his fellow servicemen. He recently gave an interview to a major news station about the problem of predatory cash advance lenders, businesses targeting sailors for supposedly cheap payday loans or title loans with enormous interest rates.

Such an issue has been in the news a lot these days. The Pentagon is even getting involved in the debate in military payday loans and we'll keep you posted as events occur.

Let's welcome another website into the online payday loan universe. 

LitFunding Corp. announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, Easy Money Express, has signed a service agreement with M3 Internet Services Inc. to provide the servicing of Easy Money's Internet-based payday loan business.

Morton Reed, president of LitFunding Corp. said:

"A key component of operating our payday loan business consists of an infrastructure, including hardware, software and management of the technologies required to track and account for the customer servicing and collections aspects of the business.

The ability to utilize M3's existing online payday loan software to service our new business operations is intended to save us a significant amount of time and dollars in establishing this type of business."

Recently, Easy Money entered into an agreement with Interactive Brand Development to provide Internet marketing to Interactive Brand's customer base, directing potential personal loan customers to Easy Money.

Here comes the Pentagon.

As the debate over military payday loans rages on, the goverment plans on getting prominently involved. The Pentagon is expected to ask Congress to cap the interest rate payday advance lenders can charge troops, according to defense and congressional sources.

It's a move that could drive the payday loan industry out of military lending.

The Defense Department's report will recommend a series of steps to protect troops from dangerous cash loan lending practices that can push them deep into debt and, officials argue, hurt their ability to focus on military missions. Pretty major stuff.

The Pentagon has declined to discuss conclusions of the report, which was due July 7. However, Col. Michael Pachuta told a National Association of Federal Credit Unions conference last week that the report would likely recommend a series of steps to Congress, including the interest rate cap.

Congressional and industry sources familiar with the report also say it may support proposals to cap the APR on no fax payday loans to servicemen at 36 percent.

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Legislation sponsored by Senators Jim Talent (R-Missouri) and Bill Nelson (D-Florida) to stop predatory payday loan practices targeted at members and their families has been approved by the U.S. Senate.

The Talent-Nelson Amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill would limit the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) charged to soldiers and their spouses for a cash loan. In many cases, lenders are charging over 800 percent APR on military payday loans to armed service members, leaving them in financial distress.

In this month's issue of Seapower magazine, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chief of Naval Operations, U.S. Navy, commented on the pressing concern.

"A sailor's financial readiness directly impacts unit readiness and the navy's ability to accomplish its mission," he said. "I am concerned with the number of sailors who are taken advantage of by predatory lending practices, the most common of which is the payday loan."

According to Sen. Talent, the Department of Defense is reporting that predatory practices are directly impacting military readiness.

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God isn't the only one who hates payday loans. The Center for Responsible Lending is the nation's foremost consumer advocacy group.

Now, the Durham nonprofit the Center for Community Self-Help on Monday announced that it has promoted Michael D. Calhoun to president of its Center for Responsible Lending affiliate - a new for for those in the payday loan world to deal with.

Calhoun previously had served as the center's general counsel and lead lobbyist in Washington, D.C., and various state capitals. He was a lead author of a 1999 anti-predatory mortgage lending law in North Carolina.

The Center for Community Self-Help said that Calhoun's promotion to the top spot at CRL indicates an even greater focus on lobbying by the group, which also does research into predatory pay day loan lending.

"Mike Calhoun's unmatched knowledge of economics, consumer law and community development lending fostered Self-Help's mission over the past decade," said Martin Eakes, CEO of the Center for Community Self-Help. "He's a powerful leader with great experience in federal and state policy."

According to CRL, predatory lending most often occurs in "subprime mortgages, and payday, car title, and overdraft loans, and typically involves hidden fees and high interest rates."

The Center for Community Self-Help is the parent of the Self-Help Credit Union and Self-Help Ventures Fund. The group aims to provide loans - NOT with interest rates similar to those of payday loans online - and other financial services to minorities, women, rural residents, and low-wealth families.

The Department of Defense has listed payday lending in its Top Ten issues of concern for military families. What was once a relatively minor issue for service members living in Okinawa, Japan, has become a greater threat with the rapid increase of online payday loan companies using the Internet.

"The growing problem here on Okinawa is, although there is only one payday lender on island, many people are consulting the internet to get payday loans," said Allison Green, Director of Navy Marine Corps Relief Society, Okinawa.

Military officials believe that payday lending falls under the auspices of predatory lending, which involves lenders taking advantage of the borrowers they believe are vulnerable, looking for fast and easy money.

Active armed service personnel are three times more likely than civilians to take out a payday loan, according to the Center for Responsible Lending, an organization opposing predatory lending.

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Pawn shops? Those are SO a few years ago.

That was essentially the line of thinking for Ezcorp, a business that stuck solely to this industry until a recent expansion into the world of fast payday loans.

Over the last fiscal year, the company has opened more than 100 payday loan stores, referred to across the nation as Ezmoney stores. Another 115 are planned for this fiscal year, which ends in September. The plan is to run 350 payday advance loan locations by 2007.

A profitable payday loan world: While the pawn business remains the company's largest revenue generator, Ezcorp's payday loan and credit service revenue nearly doubled in the first quarter of 2006.

These figures ought to receive a further boost as new bad credit payday loan stores mature, says analyst Richard Eckert of Roth Capital Partners. It takes 18 months for new stores to get their loan balances up to $80,000, the point at which they become profitable.

"You have a large number of stores that are just coming into their own as we head into fiscal 2007 and beyond," Eckert said. "For fiscal 2007, they don't have to add a single store to exhibit above average (earnings) growth."

Most of Ezcorp's stores are in Texas, though the percentage of stores that are in the Lone Star State is dropping as the firm expands into states such as Colorado, Utah and Wisconsin. The idea is to offer payday advances in as many areas as possible as time goes on.

Cash America International has been very busy. The cash advance company recently announced the purchase of CashNetUSA, as it looks to expand into the world of online payday loans. 

Furthermore, the firm revealed earnings expectations for the second quarter that ended June 30 - they'll exceed the company's previously released guidance and be higher than security analysts' published estimates. The basis for this news? Greater revenue growth and profit margins from the retail disposition of merchandise; along with an increase in service charges on pawn loans and online cash loans.

Cash America had previously reported in its earnings release for the first quarter of 2006 that it expected second quarter 2006 earnings per share to be between 26 cents and 28 cents. But the updated numbers for the second quarter is 30 to 31 cents per share, up from 23 cents per share in the second quarter of 2005.

The future looks solid for this cash advance payday loan company. 

Cash America International has been making money through payday loans - despite pigeon-holing itself as a brick-and-mortar business. But all of that is about to change.

The company will purchase CashNetUSA, for a cool $35 million, in order to move swiftly into the online payday loan world. Cash America is already the largest provider of pawn loans in Texas, with a network of 717 lending locations that offer cash advances in 20 states - but has been looking to expand into the online cash advance industy.

Mission accomplished. Thus far, the payday loan company has largely been depending on its stores to offer payday loans under the brand names “Cash America Payday Advance” and “Cashland.” It also offers check-cashing services under the brand name “Mr. Payroll.”

The acquisition of privately held CashNetUSA will help change that.

“By expanding our product delivery platform to include Internet access, we believe that we are positioned to serve a new customer segment beyond the reach of our current brick-and-mortar lending locations,” CEO Daniel R. Feehan said in a statement. “This will allow us to satisfy customers who seek short-term payday advances instead of higher-cost alternatives to meet their credit needs with ease and convenience.”

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