Payday Loans: What is your opinion?

[Ima saver]

Re: Payday Loans: What is your opinion?

I agree with you priceplus, if your check gets there the date it is due, it should be considered on time.

[AntiCost]

Re: Payday Loans: What is your opinion?

It's a form of legal loan sharking. That's about it, I wouldn't recommend it.

[cercis]

Re: Payday Loans: What is your opinion?

To determine our feelings about payday loans, we must first determine our feelings about poverty.

If you are against poverty, you must be against payday loans. Payday loans keep people in poverty. They become a hole that is almost impossible to dig out of.

Usury used to be illegal and I think it still should be. If they are going to make bankruptcies so difficult, then they need to address the problem at the root. And I include cc interest over 20%.

Now, without government intervention, what can we as concerned citizens do? We can invest in credit unions that provide low cost, low interest loans to the poorest of the poor. There are many churches who have started such credit unions. They say that they have a very, very low default rate (the rate I read was 2% default). We can donate money to credit counseling services. I know saving money and not getting into debt seems soooo simple, but for some it seems impossible. They never learned the tools. It's like dieting, I knew in abstract how to diet, eat less than you burn. When it came down to the details, I found it hard to meet my nutritional needs while not getting too many calories and still having the occasional treat. It's the same with money, it's hard to meet your obligations and still have the occasional treat - and everyone should be entitled to some treat once in a while. Long term deprivation leads to resentment and a "screw it" attitude.

[PRICEPLUS]

Re: Payday Loans: What is your opinion?

cercis,

You are right. Education is the key for people. With the new bankruptcy laws and all it is even more important for people to be educated. I think your idea about credit unions is a good one as well.

[Stuartthomas]

I used payday loans for about one year though the interest rates are too high but its ok if you are using the short term loans.. and it helped me paying my bills on time... I think they are fine for occasional and you dont take out the money more than you need...

[Snodog]

What payday loans do to people is criminal. There should be tighter regulations to protect our citizens.

Not everyone can be good at everything, we all have our weak areas. Some people are just not good with math/money.

[Stuartthomas]

I have been using payday loans for one years. Surely the interests are high, but it helped me out from paying my bills on time. I didn't get caught in the "trap" because I knew I had a yearly bonus coming and used it to pay off the last loan. I think they are fine for occasional just for the short term and only use IF you understand what you are doing and don't take out more dollars then you need.

[Slug]

1. I hope I'm never in the situation to need a payday loan.
2. The interest rates are transparent. In most, they are posted right on the wall in VERY clear terms.
3. Payday loans serve a purpose. They fulfill a customer need else they would not exist.

Please do not adopt a paternalistic attitude and think that these are all under-educated, ignorant folks who would do better if only we'd teach them or protect them from themselves. I have a friend who got one this week. He's a professor at a major university making close to 6 figures. He's just crunched due to debt acquired in a divorce settlement (sucks when 42% of your take-home goes to VISA) and needed $300 for a car repair. I offered the $, but he is as prideful as he is poor at managing his cashflow. He won't keep the loan long, but again he had an immediate need and felt a payday loan was his best option.

[DonMatthews]

I would avoid payday loans at all costs. They are a swirling eddy of despair.

[nick__45]

Many people who use payday loans are on government's assistant so the money isn't exactly theirs. It is like in the old days when food stamp came as currency and people where selling it for 30-50 cents on the dollar. It 's not their money, why should they care.

The only people I feel bad for are the immigrants who don't understand our banking and credit system and are tricked into these type of businesses. They are bad and so are Western Union stores that charges a big fee to send money to other countries. This is why I like Walmart, which charges only 3 dollars to cash a check and less than 1 dollar for money order purchase. If you're American citizen, you should know know how to use a bank and has a bank account. If you don't, you are likely more of a burden to society than a contributor.

[nick__45]

[QUOTE=Slug;264233]1. I offered the $, but he is as prideful as he is poor at managing his cashflow.QUOTE]

You just got to love the prideful folks who rather get raped than to at least offer to barter with their friend(s) for the non-interest goodwill. For example, if $300 is lended out for 2 weeks, then grass should be cut for free once or twice, depending on the property size. Of course, a professor making close to 6 figures probably is too fragile to do manual labor. And a professor that can't manage his finance is such a wonderful asset to the school and a great role model to the students.