Des Moines officials trying to keep payday lenders out

De Moines public officials are trying to change zoning to stop more payday loan stores from opening. This is not new, but I took issue w/ this statement:

Meyer says "payday loan stores prey on poor people and set up in poor neighborhoods."

This is like saying restaurants prey on families b/c people can cook at home and save money.

Will Indian tribes get immunity on Internet payday loans?

In Colorado, the state Supreme Court soon will take up a case where two online payday lending companies say they are immune to prosecution and state regulations because they are incorporated by sovereign Indian nations.

This is not new. We all know about Indian casinos. The casinos work b/c people enter the Indian reservation and gamble. Can these Indian reservations do business on the Internet? The gray area is this: the borrower applies for a loan on a computer outside the reservation. Is this considered the state, the reservation or neither?

There is a very long article in the Havre Daily News. You can read the full article titled "Online Payday Loans Lending practices spark nationwide concerns."

More on West Virginia prosecution of Internet lenders

Yesterday we had a post about the Attorney General going after some Internet lenders. There's more:

The second suit filed by McGraw’s office asks the court to order four collection agencies, Capital Collections, LLC, Claims Investigators of America, Crime Monitoring Center, and Premier Recovery Group, to comply with his investigative subpoenas and to stop collecting Internet payday loans in West Virginia.

It looks like they're using these collection's companies to get to the lenders.

For the record, West Virginia has made 97 settlement agreements since 2005. I was a little surprised by that number.

West Virginia playing hardball w/ internet payday lenders

Four Internet lenders are playing chicken w/ the West Virginia district attorney.

"The suit claims the companies, which do business under such names as "Cash Supply," "Web Payday," "Payday Services," "Payday Yes" and "Paper Check Payday," have ignored an investigative subpoena from the Attorney General's Office going back to 2007."

You can read the full article titled "Attorney general goes after four Internet payday lenders" in the Charleston Gazzette.

A big warning if you offer internet payday loans in New York

"The two companies--County Bank Of Rehoboth Beach, Del., and TC Services
Corp., a Pennsylvania company that does business as Telecash--agreed to pay
refunds to New York consumers and another $300,000 in penalties and costs. In
addition, the two companies are prohibited from collecting on any outstanding
payday loans to New Yorkers.

According to the complaint, Telecash and CRA Services Inc., another
Pennsylvania company that operates as Cashnet, made thousands of illegal payday
loans to New York consumers under a fraudulent "rent-a-bank scheme" with County
Bank. Cashnet is now defunct and didn't contribute to the settlement."

The total settlement will be for $5.2M. You can read the full article in the Morningstar titled, "New York to Distribute $5.2 Million Payday Loan Settlement"

New York is not alone. In Wisconsin, there was a class action lawsuit settled for $432k earlier this year. In Wisconsin, payday loans are perfectly legal, but the company was not licensed.

Reps set hearing on payday loans in Missouri

I hope some payday lenders show up to this to voice their concerns about the legislation. They're having a district legislative hearing to discuss payday loan reform at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Columbia Public Library, 100 W. Broadway.

How naive is NPR

I expect a little more from NPR. This reporter is pronouncing payday loans dead b/c the FDIC got banks to put $28M on the street and now no one's taking out payday loans?

That's like saying Pfizer is selling their prescription drugs direct, so Walgreens is going out of business.