[napscoordinator]

Now this I am happy about...My Sailors are constantly getting themselves into financial messes due to these rip off places.....I can feel the blasts coming...lol.

[TSgt]

I agree with you. This is nothing more than legalized-loan-sharking. Furthermore they actually discourage paying off the loans.

[bitterohiogunclinger]

“My Sailors are constantly getting themselves into financial messes due to these rip off places.”
I personally think these places are abominable, but my gut tells me that government crack downs from Congress is going to have ill effects on all of us.
Payday loans and “rent to own” places make a profit by making it easy for otherwise unqualified borrowers to walk away with instant goodies. In return, they charge horrible interest rates and are a poor choice for doing business with. But credit card companies are doing the same thing, jacking up rates to 20 to 30 percent APR. leaving people that owe balances in the same boat. The only good solution is to not live on credit.

[RU88]

This business should be shuttered.

[mmichaels1970]

My Sailors are constantly getting themselves into financial messes due to these rip off places

I was a sailor and in a financial mess. These places helped me keep my electricity on a time or two. I think the financial messes that many of my closest shipmates and I had were caused more by the long hours sitting at the bar in the E-club then by the 20 minutes spent getting a payday loan.

Heck, I don't go to bars anymore, and look at the trouble they cause people financially. Maybe the government should shut them down too. Force them to water down the drinks to a point where they can't cause too much harm.

[Publius Valerius]

I once held that same opinion. I used to work for a legislator, and there was a bill introduced to cap the rates on these loans. My legislator voted against it. Later that day, when we were chatting, I asked him why he voted against it—I said the same thing you did; the places take advantage of the poor, charge absurd interest rates, etc.

He said to me, Publius, you and I have led privileged lives. Our parents were not poor, they sent us to good schools, they always made sure that we did not want. If we need money, we can go to the bank and get a loan. Others are not so fortunate, and these places are a way for them to get money that they desperately need. If we close these stores, what does that accomplish? These people will still need money, but then, no one will give it to them. Who does that help?

I’ve reflected on that conversation some over the years, and I think that he’s right. There are some people that DO need the money, and there is not another way for them to get it. Rather than default on their obligations, they choose to get a payday loan. I’m OK with that.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

My Sailors are constantly getting themselves into financial messes due to these rip off places

Most payday lenders prohibit active-duty military personnel from borrowing.