Board Reconsiders Stand Against Payday Loans

Sun Herald
August 30, 2010
Nelson, Karen

In Missouri, some members of the Jackson County Board of Supervisors have been persuaded by payday lending advocates, legislators, and state financial officials to reconsider their stand against the payday industry. Speaking on behalf of a state association for quick-cash lenders, Scott Putnam told the board that restricting the high amount of interest a fast-money store could charge would put them out of business, ultimately destroying 4,000 jobs across Mississippi. He touted the loans as a cheaper option than repeated overdraft fees and said people who are trying to shutter them simply do not understand them. The supervisors had voted to ask that the Legislature allow laws to sunset that support high-interest loans and then cap annual interest rates at 36 percent, but they rescinded that vote and plan to look at the issue more thoroughly. Still, Supervisor Melton Harris described the peril of cyclical debt often caused by repeated use of payday loans and urged his fellow supervisors to not change their minds on the issue.
Web Link