Comments on: Short-Term Loans Can Mean Lasting Trouble

Payday Advance Loans Seem Simple, But Can Lead To Endless Cycle Of Debt

[jib317]

People need Financial counseling, more than they need PDLs. If they could learn how to save money, and spend wisely, they may not get themselves into the bind they are in that pushes them into payday loans. You can''t live outside you financial means. This is a very materialist society, but knowledge of better budgeting can help. and no not everyone will listen to good advise and they will be be stupid with their money and rack up the bills and then where do they turn to...the government to file bankruptcy! So why shouldn''t the government regulate one thing that will help some people not have to end up filing bankruptcy.

[jib317]

unfreemarket... if that is your situation then yes the payday loan will be a temp. fix, but when it comes time to repay the payday loan and a million other things come up and you can''t pay it off, you could end up in a cycle of just paying the interest, which does not pay down the loan...it just postpones the pay off. And I did not say that pdls should be outlawed, just regulated better.

[unfreemarket]

I am totally strapped for cash. My satellite dish and 2007 mustang were repossessed, my iphone was shut off, my McMansion is in foreclosure, and now the utility company wants to turn off my lights. My kids can''t even afford to eat at McDonalds 6 days a week like we used to do. None of them even checked if I could really afford them, no one evaluated whether I could afford to eat out every night. No one evaluated whether I could afford the Mustang or the Iphone or the Dish or the McDonalds. We need some price limits across the board on these things, if these things were cheaper, I wouldn''t be in this mess. Those companies are just out there to gouge poor old me. I hope Katie Couric, Nancy Pelosi, and JiB317 can cap all these fees, or impose a database at all resteraunts, phone sellers, dish providers, and auto finance companies, so these companies can check for me, whether I can really afford their services. Someone has to stop me from getting things I can''t afford, and I sure hope that someone is the government, cause I can''t trust me.

[jib317]

People need Financial counseling, more than they need PDLs. If they could learn how to save money, and spend wisely, they may not get themselves into the bind they are in that pushes them into payday loans.

[unfreemarket]

JiB317, sorry about the confusion. I think we both agree that everything expensive should be outlawed, see my earlier post, we are allies in this thing. Basically, I''m up to my ears in debt back home, and the power company is going to cut off the lights if I don''t pay them my $150 bill, which will be two months behind by tomorrow. I''ve never had a payday loan, or bounced a check or had my utilities turned off, so I''m a bit nervous, so are my wife and kids - please help. My cards are all maxed out, my credit is not super, and I have no cash. I called my bank, and the teller says that each bounced check will cost me $35 and they will cancel my service, no matter how much I write the check for. My utility Company says that since I am two months behind, I can''t get another extension. Plus if they turn it off, it''ll cost me the $150 I owe, plus an extra $100 restart fee (so $250). A nearby credit union wants me to pay a $40 membership fee up front, then will only give me a $100 loan, and they take 5% of the $100 they give me, and put it into a savings account I don''t even want. A payday lender will give me the $150 and have me pay back $173.50 in two weeks. I know I need the money quick, and have shaky credit, and no cash, but can you send me the money, or tell me what the best choice is - I can''t really decide between these options?

[jib317]

mbirdsong82...not all states have the extened payment plan...and I tried to get people to drop their loan down by $50-$100 each time, they did not have it to spare. The idea of a payday loan is good don''t get me wrong, but it is too easy for people to get into more financial trouble once they take these out. Yes there are some customer that will use payday loans for what they were intended for, but the fact is that too many people use them unresponsibily and therefore the government needs to do something to regulate the payday loans a little more, because some state governments are not doing enough. And pdls are not the only problem UNFREEMARKET but they are part of it. Im not saying pdls should be outlawed...just regulated better. Every state needs to have extened payment plans and other ways for people to get these thing paid off in a resonable amount of time.

[jib317]

Yes, PDLWORKER they do have budgeting tips and they are...
#1- Return your movie rentals on time
#2-ATMs charge fees for withdraws, do as few of them as possible
#3- Pay your credit cards on time.
These are good tips, however, how much money can people really save with this. If you don''t have the money to pay your credit card bills on time because you have to pay your payday loan on time (or else they deposit your checks and for many overdraw the account)the tips will not help that much.
HERE IS A HELPFUL TIP WITH PAYDAY LOANS...Pay them off and never get another one.

[unfreemarket]

JiB317, I agree, it is outrageous how much people pay for instant cash. The other day I had less than $100 in my wallet and about $25 in my bank account and knew I was in trouble, and decided to get out of town. I chose to run down to an ATM (embarrassed to withdraw from my own bank), and the ATM cost $3.50 to take out $20, in one day. Talk about shylocking! If you annualize that cost, the APR is 1,277%. Anyway, after getting ripped off by the ATM, I then chose to take a 10 minute, 10 mile taxi cab ride to Midway Airport and it cost me $22. Next I took a 1,173 mile flight on Southwest to Tampa for $69. So the cabby charged me almost $2.20 per mile (annualized cost of 803%), but the government regulated (thankfully) airline only charged me $0.04 per mile (annual cost of only 14.6 %). When I got to Tampa, I walked right past a drinking fountain, and bought a Zephyrhills bottled water for $1.50. The cabby and the water company didn''t even evaluate my ability to repay, they just served me right up, leaving me destitute. Now, I''m trapped at an Internet Cafe in Tampa with no money. Please, call the government to hurry and save me from mysel JiB317, where are you, please rescue me? I hope you can apply your efforts to outlaw all of these profitable businesses, because I can''t trust myself or these small business owners with my money.

[mbirdsong82]

people are allways talking bad about the PDL industry, how they are the bad ones putting america into debt by charging outrages fee''s. but we are not intended for people to get a loan and keep it. your short on cash, and need a hundered bucks untill payday, i''ll give you a hundred bucks, just give me back a hundred and fifteen bucks when you get paid. that''s not that outrages, a couple of weeks ago i overdrafted my bank account by $1.50 for ONE day. you know what that cost me???? $35. WHAT IS THE APR ON THAT??? These people that keep paying off and re-barrowing the same amount have options available to them on getting it payed off, if they choose to use them. They have the Extended payment plan or, they can drop their loan down by $50 or $100 each time they re-borrow, but they choose not to, which is blamed on the industry. There are many of my customers that use payday loan''s how there supposed to be used, and are thankful that we are able to serve them. but people that don''t use us correctly get all up in arms and get the government, and news stations against us. You want to complain b/c your car breaks down and you had to get a pdl to fix your car, b/c you had no other options... let me ask you this, where would you be if you didn''t have that pdl company to loan you the money to get your car fixed??? car-less??? job-less??? home-less??? well, weather you appriciate us or not.

[pdlworker]

JiB317: I now understand why you''re no longer an employee of CNG considering your "opinion" of the "average person''s" level of intelligence. Could you read people''s minds when they walked into your store as well as you claim to be able to read their minds now?

I happen to agree partially with your earlier post about the states that do NOT currently place regulations on payday loans. I agree in those states it is too easy for those who are already irresponsible with their money to go further into debt when they do not put a cap on the number or amount of loans taken within the state, however, that is STILL and ultimately the consumer''s choice. Nothing is hidden or mis-represented to them at any point before, during or after the transaction.

If everyone could cry "foul" and get results like this news broadcast every time they over-spent or over-borrowed, there would be NO credit card companies or mortgage companies left on the planet.

PS - if you were still with CNG then perhaps you would know that the company DOES offer budgeting tips and advice for helping consumers to save money.