Payday loans in kansas city ks - Roanoke

Washington’s payday lenders have lost three-quarters of their business in the five years since a tough new state law restricting the high-cost loans marketed to poor families took effect.,Now the industry, led by Seattle-based Moneytree, is lobbying state lawmakers to revamp the law. Lenders are backing legislation to eliminate traditional two-week payday loans and replace them with “installment loans” that would stretch repayment out for up to a year.,“I’m not a fan of payday loans,” said Sen.
Marko Liias, D-Mukilteo, prime sponsor of the Senate version of the proposal. “But I think we’re now at a point where we’ve gone so far we are cutting off some people from accessing emergency funds.”,Washington’s current law limits payday loans to $700 per loan. Borrowers are charged a $95 fee, and the entire amount typically is due in two weeks.
State law also limits borrowers to a maximum eight loans a year.,Unlike payday loans, which charge fees up front, the installment loans would accrue interest over time — giving borrowers an incentive to pay them off early, backers note. For example, a $700 loan paid back in two weeks would cost just $38 in fees.,Moneytree CEO Dennis Bassford says he’s frustrated by the opposition to the proposal, which mimics the Colorado law that has been praised by some of the same consumer advocates bashing the idea here.

A similar installment-loan proposal was defeated by critics in the Washington Legislature two years ago.,Moneytree has branches in Colorado. Bassford says he didn’t support the Colorado law when it was imposed five years ago, but has come to see many borrowers prefer the stretched-out installment loans, compared with short-term payday loans where the entire balance comes due in a couple weeks.,In Washington, meanwhile, Bassford says consumers hate the payday-loan system and its eight-loan limit.payday loans kamloops
In testimony to a Senate committee recently, he blasted the limit as “paternalistic rationing” and said it is leading some consumers to seek out illegal online lenders.,There is no doubt Washington’s restrictive law has damaged the business of Moneytree and other payday lenders.,Total payday loans here have plummeted from more than $1.3 billion in 2009 to $331 million in 2013, the last year for which figures are available, according to the state Department of Financial Institutions. The number of payday-lending stores has shrunk from 494 to 174 over that period.,Critics of the industry say that’s proof of success. They no longer hear endless complaints from low-income consumers trapped in a vicious cycle — taking out one loan to pay off a previous one, and eventually racking up thousands of dollars in debt.,Last week, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson came out against the proposal in a letter to legislators, saying Washington’s payday-lending system includes important safeguards for consumers “and does not need to be overhauled.”,The installment-loan proposals in Washington also have been opposed by national consumer-advocacy groups, including The Pew Charitable Trusts.,Critics of the installment-loan proposals note Washington’s system already includes an installment option as an “offramp” for borrowers who struggle with payday loans.,Borrowers can convert a $700 loan to a six-month installment plan with equal payments while still only paying the $95 loan fee. Under the proposals in Olympia, a six-month installment loan could cost up to $495 in fees and interest.,Supporters of the legislation note that only 12 percent of borrowers here use that existing installment option.

Instead, many continue to repeatedly take out the short-term payday loans, with nearly one in five taking the maximum eight loans per year.,As part of the push toward an installment-loan system in Washington, Moneytree and allies have sought to improve their standing with Democrats.,Some critics raising a stink about the legislation appear to want nothing less than the elimination of the payday lenders, he suggested.,Seattle Times political reporter Washington’s payday lenders have lost three-quarters of their business in the five years since a tough new state law restricting the high-cost loans marketed to poor families took effect.
Now the industry, led by Seattle-based Moneytree, is lobbying state lawmakers to revamp the law. Lenders are backing legislation to eliminate traditional two-week payday loans and replace them with “installment loans” that would stretch repayment out for up to a year.

payday loans tx