Excerpt: “Payday and auto title lenders would have to more conspicuously disclose their fees under a bill the Texas House tentatively passed Wednesday aimed at bringing more oversight to the industry…” Read more on the Dallas Morning News site >>
Dallas Morning News: “Texas House looks at more oversight for payday and auto title lenders”
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Houston Chronicle: “Let’s help vulnerable by regulating payday loans”
Excerpt: “Who hasn’t heard of Goodwill Industries? Most communities have at least one Goodwill. Most people know they can often find a good bargain in one of Goodwill’s local retail stores. Some people know that the proceeds from the stores support the mission of Goodwill, which is to help people with disabilities and other barriers to employment get the training they need to go to work and become self-sufficient. So what happens when public policy (or the lack of it) negatively affects that mission?” Read more on the Houston Chronicle site >>
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Houston Chronicle: “Payday loans in the cross hairs”
Excerpt: “The Rev. Chad R. Chaddick, pastor of San Antonio’s Northeast Baptist Church, considers it part of his mission to help families with financial setbacks, but he also insists that people with recurring problems meet with a church deacon for gentle advice about sticking to a budget…” Read more on the Houston Chronicle site >>
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Fort Worth Star Telegram: “Texas bill capping fees, interest on payday loans clears Senate committee”
Excerpt: “Legislation by Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth that would cap fees and interest on loans made by payday and car title lenders was approved Thursday by the Senate Business and Commerce Committee…” Read more on the Fort Worth Star Telegram site >>
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Fort Worth Star Telegram: “Religious leaders bring new urgency to payday loan reform”
Excerpt: “Maybe bishops and ministers can shame Austin into action on payday loans…” Read more on the Fort Worth Star Telegram site >>
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Lubbock Avalanche Journal: “Texas Legislature asked to regulate loans”
Excerpt: “Lubbock, Midland, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso and other cities across the state have asked the Texas Legislature to regulate the growing number of businesses making short-term loans…” Read more on the Lubbock Avalanche Journal site >>
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Fort Worth Star Telegram: “In Texas House, Rep. Truitt of Keller seeks to restrict payday loan practices”
Excerpt: “Efforts to regulate payday lenders took a new turn Wednesday after the powerful chairwoman of the House Pensions, Investments and Financial Services Committee introduced legislation that she said would preserve the industry while driving out “bad actors” who prey on consumers…” Read more on the Fort Worth Star Telegram site >>
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Midland Reporter Telegram: “AARP supports consumer protection in state Legislative session”
Excerpt: “Electricity customer bill of rights, annuity protection and payday and auto-title loan reform are state legislative issues for which AARP will fight…” Read more on the Midland Reporter Telegram >>
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Houston Chronicle: “Legal loan sharks”
Excerpt: “Talk about a payday… It’s a safe guess that in a strip center near you, there glows the backlit sign of a business offering easy, speedy, short-term loans. Payday lending, as the dubious enterprise is known, is one of the fastest-growing businesses in Texas, with more outlets than McDonald’s and Whataburger combined…” Read more on the Houston Chronicle site >>
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Amarillo Globe-News: “Editorial: Payday loans need oversight”
Excerpt: “Texas legislators are considering a common-sense approach to closing a loophole that can victimize low-income Texans…” Read more on the Amarillo Globe-News site >>
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Dallas Morning News: “Editorial: It is time to close the payday lending loophole”
Excerpt: “For someone living paycheck to paycheck, a quick two-week loan for a few hundred dollars from a storefront lender down the block might seem the answer for an unexpected car repair or medical bill…” Read more on the Dallas Morning News site >>
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Austin American-Statesman: “Closing ranks to close loophole”
Excerpt: “It should be illegal for lenders to collect annual interest rates of 500 percent or more on loans made to consumers. But payday lenders in Texas are exploiting a loophole that has sent interest rates on some loans soaring. If state Reps. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, and Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin, get their way during this legislative session and we hope they do it would be illegal to exploit those loopholes…” Read more on the Austin American-Statesman site >>
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Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: “Payday lending businesses facing city, Legislative scrutiny”
Excerpt: “The Lubbock City Council today will consider a resolution that would ask the Texas Legislature for more oversight of the so-called payday lenders, a growing industry that worries consumer advocates because, in their view, short-term loans trap cash-strapped borrowers into a vicious cycle of debt…” Read more on the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal site >>
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El Paso Times: “Bob Jackson: Close the payday, auto-title loan loophole”
Excerpt: “In tough economic times, at least one industry is making a heyday out of the financial desperation of others…” Read more on the El Paso Times site >>
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San Antonio Express-News: “Payday loan regulation way overdue in Texas”
Excerpt: “Lawmakers need to enact legislation to regulate the booming payday loan business in Texas. Payday and auto title lenders in Texas are not subject to rules and regulations that apply to banks and other conventional lenders…” Read more on the San Antonio Express-News site >>
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Texas Observer: “Foxes In the Henhouse”
Excerpt: “The Texas Finance Commission is supposed to protect consumers from being plundered. The commission writes regulations for loans and lines of credit. When the commission was created in 1943, state leaders stated in the agency’s mission that it ‘enhance the financial well-being of the citizens of Texas’…” Read more on the Texas Observer site >>
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Abilene Reporter-News: “Groups oppose payday loans, industry growth in Texas”
Excerpt: “Bill Langley has a phrase to describe payday loans…” Read more on the Abilene Reporter-News site >>
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Dallas Morning News: “Dallas council urged to limit payday lending sites”
Excerpt: “Payday-lending and check-cashing stores have been around Dallas for years…” Read more on the Dallas Morning News site >>
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NBC DFW: “Texas Showdown Brewing Over Payday Loan Stores”
Excerpt: “Critics of payday and car title loan stores are asking the Dallas City Council to support changes in Texas law to reduce what they say are unfairly excessive interest rates and fees…” Read and watch more on the NBC DFW site >>
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News 8 Austin: “Lawmakers push for more regulation on payday lending”
Excerpt: “Several lawmakers and organizations want more regulation for payday lending, car title loans and tax refund anticipation loans…” Read more on the News 8 Austin site >>
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “Bill aims to crack down on Texas’ storefront lenders”
Excerpt: “Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, reviving one of her top legislative priorities, introduced legislation Friday to crack down on storefront lenders that she said prey on vulnerable Texans by charging usurious fees and interest rates…” Read more on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram site >>
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Fox Austin: “Payday Loans Overhaul Bills”
Excerpt: “Texas legislators filled 2 bills Friday to rein in companies that make payday and car title loans…” Read and watch more on the Fox Austin site >>
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KVUE: “Legislators look to heavens for help fighting payday lenders”
Excerpt: “Texas religious leaders joined state lawmakers Friday at the State Capitol, calling for a new law to help end predatory lending in the state…” Read and watch more on the KVUE site >>
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Galveston County Daily News: “Council denies permit for payday loan company”
Excerpt: “Galveston City Council last week denied its finance committee chairman a permit to allow a payday loan company to operate on land he owns on the city’s seawall…” Read more on the Galveston County Daily News site >>
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Waco Tribune-Herald: “New coalition fights payday loans”
Subscriber-only content — Excerpt: “Linda, a local drugstore clerk, doesn’t know exactly how much money she has put toward payday loans during the past few years. But she’s certain it is astronomically more than the few hundred dollars she initially borrowed…” Read more on the Waco Tribune-Herald site >>
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Dallas Morning News: “With payday loans, poor get the loans, firms get the payday”
Excerpt: “On July 2, a 74-year-old Dallas widow named Yvonne Sands received her monthly Social Security check of $1,360. Shortly after 7:30 a.m., she withdrew money from the bank and drove off to renew four payday loans with annual percentage rates of about 250 percent to more than 300 percent…” Read more on the Dallas Morning News site >>
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Dallas Morning News: “AARP, others seek tighter rules on payday loans in Texas”
Excerpt: ” More than a dozen states restrict or ban payday lending…” Read more on the Dallas Morning News site >>
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Austin American-Statesman: “Close the state loophole on predatory lending”
Excerpt: “Lobbyists for the multibillion-dollar payday and auto title loan industry blanketed Capitol Hill in recent months. But ultimately they could not fend off the full specter of tighter regulation contained in federal financial reform legislation…” Read more on the Austin American-Statesman site >>
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KENS 5: “Texas lawmaker aims to stop predatory lending”
Excerpt: “They’re hoping the third time’s the charm…” Read and watch more on the KENS 5 site >>
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WOAI: “Texas lawmaker wants to crack down on payday loans”
Excerpt: “Fast cash, payday loans and title loan companies all promise easy money, but are they only creating more debt? One state lawmaker says some of these businesses are taking advantage of people…” Read more on the WOAI site >>
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NPR: “Turning Poverty Into A Multibillion-Dollar Industry”
Excerpt: “Payday lending operations have grown rapidly in the United States since the early 1990s. At the industry’s peak a few years ago, there were more payday lenders in the United States than McDonald’s and Burger King stores — combined…” Read and hear more on the NPR site >>
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NPR: “Inside A Payday Loan Shop”
Excerpt: “During the credit boom, lots of payday loan stores sprang up in Mansfield, Ohio…” Read and hear more on the NPR site >>
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Sachse News: “Council urges action against payday loans”
Excerpt: “This is the second installment in a series of articles about the payday loan business. Several local payday lending offices were contacted regarding the article. Payday lending representatives declined to comment…” Read more on the Sachse News site >>
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WFAA: “Payday loan firm faces lawsuits, complaints over collections”
Excerpt: “ACE Cash Express, an Irving-based company that makes payday loans and cash advances, faces at least 20 lawsuits in state court over its debt collection practices, and 96 similar complaints with the Texas Attorney General’s office…” Read more on the WFAA site >>
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Houston Chronicle: “Predatory payday lending”
Excerpt: “At some point we’ve all been faced with an untimely financial situation when, on top of the regular bills, an unexpected expense arises like a car repair or medical emergency. For low-income families, a payday loan may be the only option to get funds quickly. But what seems like a quick fix can lead to a long and destructive cycle of debt. That’s because, under current law, payday lenders can charge fees and interest of 500% or more. For example, a family who borrows $300 pays $840 on average to repay the loan…” Read more on the Houston Chronicle site >>
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Baptist Standard: “Churches can help poor people avoid predatory lending trap”
Excerpt: “Payday loan outlets have grown like kudzu in recent years. Texas has more payday lender outlets—about 3,000—than it has McDonald’s and Whataburger restaurants combined…” Read more on the Baptist Standard site >>
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Houston Chronicle: “Payday protection; Let’s rein in abusive fees and interest rates on small, short-term loans”
Excerpt: “You’ve probably seen or heard the ads. You know, the ones that tout the services of short-term lenders that are there to help strapped consumers in a pinch with a few hundred dollars. They’re the same ones that usually end with an earnest plea to consumers to use these services only when they need them and, of course, always to use them responsibly…” Read more on the Houston Chronicle site >>
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Houston Chronicle: “Let’s crack down on payday loans”
Excerpt: “Texas has more than 3,000 outlets offering what are called payday and auto-title loans at whopping interest rates. In our state alone, this loan racket is an estimated $3 billion industry each year…” Read more on the Houston Chronicle site >>
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Sachse News: “Councilman begins crusade against payday loan stores”
Excerpt: “Mayor pro tem Bill Adams is actively speaking out against the payday loan industry…” Read more on the Sachse News site >>
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AARP Bulletin: “Payday Loan Shops Exploit a Loophole”
Excerpt: “He had never walked into a payday loan shop, but Cleveland Lomas thought it was the right move: It would help him pay off his car and build up good credit in the process…” Read more on the AARP Bulletin site >>
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Texas Baptists Christian Life Commission Conference: Interviews with Tim Morstad and Ann Baddour
On Monday, Tim Morstad (AARP Texas) and Ann Baddour (Texas Appleseed) gave a presentation on payday loan reform at the Christian Life Commission’s annual conference in McAllen, Texas. Tim and Ann described the state of the industry in Texas and outlined several activities to reign in abuses.
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Reuters: “Stop Payday Lending Abuse Initiative Gains Momentum With Resolution in El Paso, Launch of New Web Site”
Excerpt: “Cities and towns across Texas are urging legislative leaders in Austin to close a loophole in state
law that allows payday lenders and auto title lenders to charge exorbitant rates for short-term loans, fostering a cycle of dependency that often leads to financial ruin…” Read more on the Reuters site >>
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DailyFinance (AOL Money & Finance): “Costly Cash: Where to Turn If You’re Strapped for Money”
Excerpt: “Job losses in the U.S. may be in the process of bottoming, but the employment market is surely nowhere near being healthy yet. So, it’s not surprising that innumerable people find themselves lacking the cash to make even the most basic purchases or pay their usual monthly bills…” Read more on the DailyFinance site >>
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DailyFinance (AOL Money & Finance): “Don’t Expect Federal Regulators to Protect You From Payday Loans”
Excerpt: “Almost every month, the major consumer and financial regulators in the U.S. issue warnings about payday lenders…” Read more on the DailyFinance site >>
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DailyFinance (AOL Money & Finance): “Costly Cash: In Texas, Towns Try Zoning Out Payday Lenders”
Excerpt: “Brownsville, Texas, a city in the state’s southernmost part, is taking on payday lenders. In December, it placed a six-month moratorium barring these lenders — which specialize in short-term loans backed by collateral and with interest rates equivalent to 300% to 400% or more annually — from opening any new “money stores” in town…” Read more on the DailyFinance site >>
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DailyFinance (AOL Money & Finance): “Costly Cash: How a Retiree Wound Up With a 375% Loan”
Excerpt: “Last September, a pressing family matter led 63-year-old Preston White to walk into the Cash Store in Killeen, Texas. The retiree’s daughter had just returned from serving in Iraq and had asked for some financial help relocating her family…” Read more on the DailyFinance site >>
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Dallas Observer: “Uptick in Crimes Against Elderly, Payday Lenders Tarnish Some Locals’ Golden Years”
Excerpt: A disheartening report by the Dallas Police Department shows that crimes against senior citizens have increased in the past year, with rates for July 2011 15 percent higher than during the same time last year…” Read more on the Dallas Observer site >>