NYT > Payday Loans Payday loans are typically small, short-term loans (usually two weeks, or until payday) provided by cash advance stores, with one-time fees attached -- generally $15 to $25 per $100 borrowed. Nearly unknown 15 years ago, payday loan stores now in some place outnumber fast food franchises. A borrower usually writes a check for the amount borrowed plus the fee, postdated to the next payday. If he can\'t pay the full amount then, he might roll the loan over, paying just the fee --- say, $110 on a $500 loan --- and agreeing to pay the $610 -- the $500 balance plus another $110 fee -- in another two weeks. Consumer advocates and some lawmakers criticize payday loans as predatory, because fees correspond to annual interest rates of 300 percent and up. But consumers like the ease and convenience, and the industry likens them to taxi fares, which cost a lot per mile but aren\'t intended for the long haul. Twelve states ban payday loans, and Congress in 2006 passed legislation to restrict payday lending to members of the armed services. In 2009, the House passed a financial system reform bill that created a new consumer agency that would be able to regulate payday loans and included specific measures like a cap on interest. In the Senate, two members of the Senate Banking Committee, Christopher J. Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who is the panel\'s chairman, and Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, worked to create a bipartisan bill. Under a proposal developed by Mr. Dodd and Mr. Corker, the new consumer agency could write rules for nonbank financial companies like payday lenders, but would have to petition a body of regulators for authority to enforce. Consumer advocates were critical of the approach. But shortly after the provision became known, Mr. Dodd announced that he was abandoning the talks with Mr. Corker and would introduce a new Democratic measure.
Providing Loans Based on Cash Flow, Not Credit Score
');
document.write('Thu, 6 May 2010 0:00:00 EDT
');
document.write('On Deck Capital offers business loans that are typically less than $30,000 that are repaid by daily deductions from the borrower’s bank account.');
document.write('
A Consumer Bill Gives Exemption on Payday Loans
');
document.write('Wed, 10 Mar 2010 0:00:00 EST
');
document.write('Senator Bob Corker wants a proposed bank agency to be more lenient, but critics say consumers would be hurt.');
document.write('
The Places They Go When Banks Say No
');
document.write('Sun, 31 Jan 2010 0:00:00 EST
');
document.write('As traditional banks have spurned small businesses, many have turned to firms that provide a relatively expensive alternative: purchase-order financing.');
document.write('
Paterson Says Legislators Put State in Danger
');
document.write('Thu, 7 Jan 2010 0:00:00 EST
');
document.write('Gov. David A. Paterson delivered an unusually blunt address on ethics to the Legislature on Wednesday.');
document.write('
These Rates Would Shock a Loan Shark
');
document.write('Wed, 25 Nov 2009 0:00:00 EST
');
document.write('At consumer debt court, high interest rates are the norm, but they are not illegal. That could change, though, if a new effort bears fruit.');
document.write('
Investigators Study Tangle of Clues on Fort Hood Suspect
');
document.write('Sun, 15 Nov 2009 0:00:00 EST
');
document.write('Investigators are trying to determine whether Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was a terrorist driven by extremism, a troubled loner, or both.');
document.write('
Banks Balk at Agency Meant to Aid Consumers
');
document.write('Wed, 1 Jul 2009 0:00:00 EDT
');
document.write('The administration’s proposal for the new agency marks the first shot in a battle over how to regulate home mortgages, credit cards and other forms of lending.');
document.write('
Pay Pals
');
document.write('Wed, 10 Jun 2009 0:00:00 EDT
');
document.write('Senator Christopher Dodd should go after, not cozy up to, the payday-loan industry for its egregious exploitation of people’s desperation.');
document.write('
Lenders Thwart Ohio Law Intended to Limit High Interest on Payday Loans
');
document.write('Thu, 16 Apr 2009 0:00:00 EDT
');
document.write('Despite a law capping the annual interest rate for short-term loans at 28 percent, some lenders are using different laws to charge up to 680 percent interest.');
document.write('
391 Percent Payday Loan
');
document.write('Mon, 13 Apr 2009 0:00:00 EDT
');
document.write('Congress should resist an ersatz reform that would allow lenders to continue to charge exorbitant interest rates on payday loans.');
document.write('
LETTERS; Check Cashers, Redeemed
');
document.write('Sun, 23 Nov 2008 0:00:00 EST
');
document.write('Four letters on Douglas McGray\'s Nov 9 article on check-cashing services and payday loans; writers are Jose Cisneros, treasurer of city and county of San Francisco, Joseph Coleman, chairman of Financial Service Centers of America, Liana Molina of California Reinvestment Coalition and Donald M Seib');
document.write('
Check Cashers, Redeemed
');
document.write('Sun, 9 Nov 2008 0:00:00 EST
');
document.write('Many low-income Americans were wary of banks even before the latest round of failures and takeovers. Is a semi-reformed payday lender the right guy to bring the urban poor into the banking system?');
document.write('
Mailing Our Way to Solvency
');
document.write('Mon, 6 Oct 2008 0:00:00 EDT
');
document.write('The United States should go back to using the one government institution that is found in most neighborhoods the post office as local savings bank.');
document.write('
Some States Set Caps to Control Payday Loans
');
document.write('Mon, 8 Sep 2008 0:00:00 EDT
');
document.write('To aid borrowers, Ohio lawmakers push for new regulations capping payday loans.');
document.write('
LETTERS; Americans Living in a Material World
');
document.write('Thu, 12 Jun 2008 0:00:00 EDT
');
document.write('Letters from Stephen Lehman, Michael Weinstein, Kevin McNamara, Shari Jacobson, Michael A Nayor, Rob Fenstermacher and Lisa Calef comment on David Brooks June 10 Op-Ed column about American explosion of debt and financial polarization; drawing');
document.write('
');