Payday lending cap in DC would tighten credit crunch for residents

D.C. Councilman and former mayor Marion Barry, as well as some of his colleagues on the City Council, have a novel idea on how to help D.C. residents struggling with the credit crunch: limit their ability access emergency cash by capping annual percentage rates that payday lenders can charge at 24 percent.

After initally voting unanimously for the cap, the D.C. Council is holding a new vote on the issue this week. Statist groups like the Center for Responsible lending are pushing hard to keep the cap. But hopefully, it will become apparent to the majority of the Council that the laws of economics cannot be legislated away, and when governments attempt to do so, the final bill enacted is always attached to an additional piece of troubling legislations: the Law of Unintnded Consequences

Basic microeconomics, of which there is a greater consensus on than say the macro issues of monetary policy, is that price controls — including interest rate ceilings — cause shortages. If a lender cannot charge an interest rate high enough that he or she believes can compensate for the risk, he or she will cease lending. But it’s ultimately the borrowers who lose out from not being able to seek out this alternative, and thus in many cases not getting the credit they feel they need.

In this case, the most marginal borrower would likely be hurt. Payday loans are used for everything from getting a car fixed it order to be able to get to work to paying for air fare to go see a sick relative.

They also could be used for less obvious thing that are still essential in moving up the econmic ladder. For instance, for borrowers who usually make timely payments yet who are worried about jeopardizing their credit rating by missing a payment on a credit card or loan, a small payday loan could give them the cash to make the payment on time (the payday loan would not necessarily itself lower the credit score or even be reported to a credit ranking agency). Maintaining a solid credit rating can make all the difference in everything from getting a home loan on good terms and the entrepreneurial activity of starting a business.

The D.C. Financial Services Association, a payday lender trade group, is smartly showing the stories of District payday borrowers who received needed cash for emergencies. An evenhanded story by Washington Post reporter Nikita Stewart points out these examples, as well as some of the statistics controversies in arguments against payday lending. Stewart quotes a lender saying that opponents often point to “worse-case scenarios,” and that in some cases total bank fees and interest can be comparable to a payday loan for marginal borrowers. For instance, bank overdraft fees can act as a form of loan, but they are counted as a “penalty” rather than interest.

CEI’s Iain Murray also penned a good piece last year for The American Spectator comparing payday loans to the overdraft loans he got in Britain when he was a student. As he wrote, “If CRL were truly committed to the idea of self-help, it would encourage borrowers to recognize their personal responsibility. Instead, it is cutting off sources of credit that have helped many out of poverty and into the middle classes.”



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  2. Time is unpredictable and you never know what will be going to happen in tomorrow. Unexpected monthly expenses like car repair, high telephone bills and unexpected travel can let you under high financial crisis. When unexpected problems have left you short on resources to shell out for your bills this month, or a shocker cost has produced the need for emergency money, you know that you don't have time to squander. So, why would you hunt for aid from a resource that has you participating in the waiting game or deliberating the consequences of over drafting and/or paying late? In troubled times like these, we not only bring you an approval judgment very rapidly, but also connect accepted applicants to their selected lenders in practically no time. This allows the lenders to process your information more rapidly and ultimately allow you to get back on with your life in no time flat. No fax payday loan can be a good solution for people who need money when urgent situation arises. Articles at http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/ will give you information about payday loans issues. In fact, upon approval, some people we’ve pointed in the right direction report having their money in the same day that they were approved!

  3. Not all payday lenders are predatory as everyone are saying. All lenders should have to play by the same rules, so if payday loans are predatory, so as the others. Of course, consumers deserve protection from abusive loan products—not just the more affluent. But people should know who to trust when it comes to borrowing money from loan institutions.

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  4. paydayloanadvocate says:

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  6. The problems facing America’s economy are not exclusive to only the United States. The International Herald Tribune features an article about the credit crunch in Europe. This article centers on a small business owner outside of Paris, Dominique Boudier, who runs a printing company. Small business just like hers depend on credit to be able to keep afloat, especially since she faces a 60 day lag in receiving payment from many of her clients. Currently, her creditors are cutting their offerings in half, largely due to her supplier’s credit insurance companies insisting on a lending freeze. Her bank, along with many others are sending all their liquidity to the European Central Bank, instead of investing into other banks and back into the fragile economy. As banks begin to fail and liquidity dries up, credit begins to disappear. Similar to the Federal Reserve Bank in the US, the European Central Bank issues fiat money. Fiat money is currency that is backed with credit, and as governments can’t guarantee the value of said currency; its value diminishes rapidly, resulting in enormous inflation rates, which we are seeing in the global credit crunch. The consensus of many is that the proper manner in which to curb these symptoms is a stronger banking system. While most people hang in the lurch, payday advance loans will be readily available, as most people will not be able to afford to wait for the banks to sort themselves out. In 2008, a global economic crisis was suggested by several important indicators of economic downturn worldwide. These included high oil prices, which led to both high food prices (due to a dependence of food production on petroleum, as well as using food as an alternative to petroleum) and global inflation; a substantial credit crisis leading to the bankruptcy of large and well established investment banks as well as commercial banks in various nations around the world; increased unemployment; and the possibility of a global recession.
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  7. Payday_Loan_Debate says:

    The irresponsibility of many borrowers is what is propagating this debate against the payday loan industry. By nature the payday loan industry has a lot of unworthy credit applicants apply. This is partly due to the fact that a credit check is not always performed on applicants making the payday loan industry a strong candidate for those who cannot get a loan elsewhere.

    Opponents of the industry make mention of the high interest rates but fail to understand some of the basics components of borrowing a payday loan.

    First of all the loan term is usually no more than two weeks, putting most of the quoted annual percentage rates into perspective. Secondly it is not fair to penalize an industry for the irresponsibility of others. Payday loans are a contractual process therefore unless the industry is negating the terms of the contracts with their clients to some selfish advantage, they should not have to suffer from regulation of state governments.

    There have been many myths about the industry that have helped fuel many of the political debates around the country. They are refuted in the following blog article called payday loan myths debunked.

  8. With just less than one week left until we find out who will be our Commander in Chief for the next four years, there are new controversies surrounding both the Democrat and Republican camps. News sources are excited to report that the Republican National Committee spent upwards of $150,000 on new clothes for Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin. While this story has been circulating, inspiring an avalanche of negative publicity, anti-Republican attacks, and the like, I am not rolling with this tide. As a matter of fact, considering that both Palin and Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama have spent large sums of money on clothing, it doesn’t make me disrespect or respect one more than the other. After all, we live in a society where looks, more than anything else, are the prime things that we judge people on. If you have one candidate in designer duds, but somebody else who looks as if they’ve gotten their entire wardrobe from the Wal-Mart clearance rack, the latter won’t be taken seriously. And, besides, look at the attention Sarah Palin is getting with her wardrobe. It doesn't seem like such a bad political move. They spent a lot less on Sarah's wardrobe than Obama spends on TV commercials. In the end, I really hope that the American people will judge the candidates on the issues, and vote for the candidate that supports Americans' right to freedom for personal financial responsibility and the continued rights to no fax payday loans.
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  9. Lisa_P says:

    I definitely agree with the above comment that not all payday lenders are predatory. We cannot really say that all borrowers are innocent as such all lenders are guilty. Lets admit that some of us commit mistakes when it comes on borrowing money. Some of us would easily jump to any payday company because of desperation for money without considering the conditions that payday companies provide. For us to avoid encountering problems on our loans lets be careful what payday company to choose that would really help us in our financial problem. Click to read more on Payday Loans

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