Posted on 06/28/2005 11:03:25 AM PDT by JZelle
America's military bases are under siege by an army of financial predators known as "payday lenders." Legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 97, called The Service Members Anti-Predatory Lending Protection Act, would protect our military from these fiscal parasites by capping outrageous interest rates. Unfortunately only a handful in Congress take the threat seriously. You'll find payday lenders in storefront offices and check-cashing outlets up and down East 22nd Street in Tucson right outside Davis-Monahan Air Force Base. They line the highways near the big Navy bases in Norfolk and Hampton, Va. And they surround the Camp Pendleton Marine base in California with neon signs offering "Instant Loans" and "Quick Cash." Military towns are the favorite hunting grounds of the payday lenders for one very good reason -- these lenders have become rich by victimizing service people and their families with short-term loans at usurious interest rates. Payday lending has grown into a $40 billion a year industry by charging customer-victims real interest rates of 400 percent yearly and often much more. More shameful is the fact it is perfectly legal in 37 states. Those states have accommodated the payday lenders with exceptions from state usury laws. Even in states where payday lending is illegal it often flourishes anyway with lenders thinly disguising their operations or just simply ignoring the law. With our servicemen and -women putting their lives on the line for America in two war zones, it's way past time that America counterattacks to protect servicepeople from this kind of financial abuse at home. We need cooperation at the state and federal levels to firmly limit the interest these lenders can charge along with aggressive investigations by Congress and the states into the abuses committed.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Apparently our servicemen can giver their lives for their country, but can't decide for themselves what terms are acceptable for private advances on their paychecks.
This has been going on for at least 50 years...
Even more disgusting is the pittance we pay our troops that might cause them to need these "payday" services.
I live in a non-military rural community. Four of these leeches have sprung up in the past year. They prey on the weak, the gullible, and the desperate.
Just like 'rats and social security, they convince people they know what is the best use of their money but screw them over in the end... sigh
Yup. Pawn shops and loan sharks cluster around military bases and have for many, many years. It is up to the individual to be responsible for how they spend their money.
Are these pay day lenders any worse than people who hawk no interest loans, reverse mortgages for the elderly, credit cards for people with bad credit, or 2nd mortgages for people who need to combine all their dredit card debt? They are all thieves taking advantage of people with bad credit who spend more than they earn.
Anybody else here ever hear of "20 for 40"?
if you think it is bad now you should see the pay in 19070. 60 to 120 dollars a month was normal for the first four years in the service. Pay day loans like these where made by guys with cash and a big friend. 20 bucks cost 25 or 30 come payday. Old program new players.
Prostitutes have more honor and integrity than do these payday loan companies. Many of them are allowed by state law to charge interest rates of up to 300% (especially bad with title loan operations)
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