Christopher Lewis Peterson and Steven M. Graves
“This analysis suggests that… the payday lending industry has now fundamentally transformed the financial services sector catering to lower income Americans. Moreover, our findings should serve as conclusive proof that conservative Christian Americans are a prime demographic target of the payday lending industry.”
Christopher Lewis Peterson and Steven M. Graves came to this fascinating conclusion in a paper entitled Usury Law and the Christian Right: Faith Based Political Power and the Geography of the American Payday Loan Regulation.
Although the paper itself is due to be released this spring, a draft copy of the full report and raw data (including detailed maps) are available online…
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Gail Meyers
“What started as a short-term solution became a two-year financial nightmare.”
Gail Meyers describes her ordeal when a $300 payday loan turned into $2,500 of debt…
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Tawana Stewart
“Payday loans are not beneficial in any way, shape or form.”
Former payday loan consumer Tawana Stewart describes her ordeal with payday loans that ended in bankruptcy…
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Rich Gilmore
“I kept doing the borrowing and paying back and borrowing and paying back… They suggested I go to other places to pay them back. It snowballed.”
Social worker Rich Gilmore describes how the quick fix of payday loans can turn into a long-term nightmare…
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Leonard Toyer
“If it’s a choice between paying your bills or buying food, pay your bills and then come to us… We’ll help you with that rather than you going to a payday lender and ending up deeper in debt.”
Army Community Service financial counselor Leonard Toyer offers to help military families avoid the high cost of payday loans but many soldiers end up using payday loans anyway…
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Victoria A. Reider
“This suit was filed to protect Pennsylvania consumers from a harmful product that we believe is payday lending by another name… Families who seek these types of loans are usually living paycheck to paycheck and need just a little bit more to make it to Friday. Preying on their need by charging exorbitant fees is simply unconscionable.”
Acting Banking Secretary Victoria A. Reider made this statement after a Commonwealth Court ruled that Advance America violated Pennsylvania consumer law…
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John Ruoff
“We’re deeply disappointed he would take a job like this. These are bad guys and they do shameful things.”
Anti-payday loan advocacy group director John Ruoff was referring to Tommy Moore, who resigned a 26-year Senate seat this weekend to lobby on behalf of the payday loan industry…
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Bill Clinton
“With fees and interest, people with one of these loans (payday loans) wind up paying interest of 40% to 500% and as a result a lot of people are going bankrupt quicker because they don’t have access to ordinary banking services.”
At a speech in Detroit on Sunday, Former President Bill Clinton urged people to put pressure on banks to open up their businesses to lower-income families…
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Wendy Betts
“It got to the point I owed so much on payday loans, I couldn’t make my car payment… I think I had up to nine loans at one time. Each payday, I had to run from place to place to pay them off, roll them over or take out a new one.”
Payday loan consumer Wendy Betts describes her experience on the debt treadmill and how she got off of it…
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Rena McFadden
“The time to repay is too short. He’s been trying to talk to them, but they won’t talk… They want the money by the next pay day. How are you supposed to pay your bills?”
South Carolina resident Rena McFadden describes a nightmarish experience with payday loans…
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