Leadpile’s Blog

As a follow up to our recent posting regarding Arizona Payday loans, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 5-3 against the bill that would have allowed lenders to continue offering the high-interest short-term loans with the proposed adjustments to the rules.
In Arizona there are currently 596 Payday Loan businesses that provide employment for 2,500 people. The risk of these people losing their jobs is high, as well as loan customers will have to turn to most likely more expensive options to receive quick cash short-term loans.
The bill would have allowed fees of $15 per $100 borrowed, restricted the number of loans an individual could take out at one time and allowed a customer to rescind the transaction if the money was returned within two business days.
LeadPile will continue to keep a close eye on this and keep you updated on any new developments or possible hope for the AZ Payday industry!

Arizona may have good news for the Payday loan industry this week as an amendment will be heard on Tuesday at 1:30pm. Adjustments suggested would restrict the number of loans a person could take out at one time, allowing fees of $15 per $100 borrowed, and also allowing the consumer to cancel the transaction if the borrowed money is returned within two business days. The amendment would require businesses to give at least 1.5 % of the fees it collects to “organizations that provide services to low-income and moderate income individuals” in their community.

A new bill has passed in Virginia setting new guidelines for car title loans. This bill will enforce caps on interest rates and loan terms which is something that has not been done before. Similar to a law in Tennessee the loans are restricted to a year in length, restrict the loan amount to half of the car’s value in addition to preventing new interest being added onto the loan once the car has been repossessed. A tiered interest rate cap will be put into effect, running from 22 percent per month for a loan smaller than $700, to a maximum 15 percent for loans higher than $1,400.
Car title loans are a topic of controversy lately in a similar way to payday loans. The loans both help consumers who are in need and would not have other options, but can be at times tricky for consumers to understand if they are not taking the time to read the terms. The consumer needs to always be aware of the terms of the loan and the interest rate they will be paying. If applying for a loan, being as educated as possible can help the consumer know all options available and prepare/make a plan to use the loan responsibly.

It is official…. Leadpile has teamed up with Payday loan lenders to help deliver real time, qualified, payday loan customers to their institutions. In an effort to try and connect as many people as we can with the payday loan lenders, we have rolled out the “NEW” payday loan live transfers.
Business rules/filters we will capture before transferring the payday loan customer:

1. State the customer lives in.
2. Do they have a checking or savings account, if so which one?
3. How many outstanding payday loan(s) does the customer have?
4. Other filters such as the consumer’s income, do they have direct deposit, or employed by military and more!

If you are a payday lender and looking for unique consumers transferred to you, simply contact us and we will help you connect with those consumers that are needing a payday loan.

June 30th is the date that the Payday loan industry in Arizona will have to fight to survive past. The industry has many advocacy groups and local businesses supporting a bill that would allow the short-term loan companies to continue operating. Supporters of the bill believe that this economy has shown short-term smaller loans are necessary and not easily available from banks or credit unions; the lower dollar amount loans are helping a lower income or “fallen on hard times” part of the population.

In recent weeks, there have been talks on the largest debate surrounding the Payday industry, the interest rates. The interest rates are currently under a temporary exemption from the 36 percent, charging $17.65 per $100 borrowed for a 2 week loan; this exemption would expire on June 30th. The Payday loan lenders would possibly not generate enough revenue to cover overhead costs if capped at 36%, however this is the number that Representatives from the minority House Democrats would like to hold them to…

As these discussions continue and the debate grows, LeadPile will continue to keep you updated!

In Wisconsin, the state Senate is being asked by the Assembly Speaker to avoid delay with moving forward with the legislation regulating payday loan companies. It has already been approved recently by the Assembly to limit the size of loans, restrict consumers from taking out more than one loan at a time, bans auto title loans completely as well as “rolling over” the balance of a previous loan.
A Senate version of this bill includes a cap on interest rates, however the Assembly rejected this bill as they believe their version does enough.
There are currently over 500 payday lenders in the state of Wisconsin.

LeadPile will continue to keep you posted on changes…

Changes to the Wisconsin Payday lending industry could be very close. A vote by the Assembly Committee 6-5 supports the bill that would place restrictions that would cap Payday loans at $600 allowing borrowers to only take out one Payday loan at a time. Auto title loans will no longer be offered when/if this bill passes. A vote to pass this bill could happen as quickly as next Tuesday. Concerns have been raised about a $1 fee for each transaction to pay for statewide database to track the loans. According to the Associated Press, Republicans argued the bill was flawed and the public should have more time to consider the plan unveiled late last week. Leadpile will be watching….

As a follow up to our past entries regarding the payday loan industry in Arizona, the bill that would allow lenders to continue offering payday loans has been delayed.

According the azcentral.com the bill was pulled out of a hearing agenda recently. Republican Rep. Andy Tobin supporting the bill said that currently it does not have enough support, but vowed that more support would be gathered and the bill would be brought back.

Currently payday lenders are operating under a temporary exemption from Arizona’s 36% cap on annual interest rates. This exemption is set to expire on June 30th.

A new payday loan law has taken effect today in South Carolina. This new law was passed with the intent to protect consumers, however it seems that it actually has an ability to hurt consumers that already have an outstanding payday loan. A local SC news channel is reporting, “The new law limits consumers to just one payday loan at a time. It sets up a statewide database, starting Feb. 1, to keep track of all payday loans to prevent anyone from having more than one. But the database will not include past payday loans that are outstanding as of Feb. 1.” So will something like this prevent lenders from staying in the state of SC? Hopefully not.. because people in SC I am sure still need payday loans even though a new law was passed.

A year ago in New Hampshire payday and title loans were outlawed to “protect” consumers from the interest rates. This however did not completely stop all lenders from being able to offer additional types of short-term high interest loans to consumers.
Today the house will vote to amend the proposed bill which would put a 36% cap on annual interest rates, including some fees for any loan under $10,000. This would apply to loans and personal lines of credit. According to the Concord Monitor the vote is for a bill meant to close what some consider to be a loophole in the law. As there as been much controversy and disagreement regarding the bill which was originally discussed in the house two weeks ago with a recommendation that a bipartisan majority believed the bill to be overkill. The new proposed amendment to the bill would cap the interest rates at 36% while allowing additional membership fees, late fees and participation fees. These fees could only be charged one time and the banking commissioner would have the authority to determine what fees are fair.
Often time consumers with bad credit or in a time of need have no where else to turn for a quick loan and these lenders were filling the demand for these loans. If the loans were taken away, this would leave many people without other options. Hopefully, a decision can be agreed upon that not only has the consumers best interest in mind regarding the interest rates, but also in times of need and being able to access quick short term loans when necessary. Leadpile is watching what happens in NH………….

Opening a checking account with no required balance or no monthly service fees may be something that is soon going to be history. With the suffering economy, there has recently been lots of discussion and controversy surrounding overdraft transaction fees, as a new federal regulation is expected to eliminate them. To make up for these losses in revenue the banks are looking into adding additional fees to checking accounts to help fill the gap.
According to Bankrate.com effective July 1st overdraft coverage will be an opt-in service. “Banks that offer overdraft, or bounce, protection will send opt-in notices to customers explaining the service. Banks will not be allowed to charge a fee for paying an overdraft that occurs because of an ATM transaction or a one-time debit card transaction unless the customer agrees. The rule does not apply to overdrafts that occur through the use of checks or ACH transactions such as bill pay.”
Overdraft fees have affected millions of people during this hard time and often times can be looked at as making a hard situation harder. Here at LeadPile we connect consumers possibly needing help to avoid banking overdraft fees or late payments with payday loan lenders who can loan money for a period of time to get them through. We will keep an eye on any new developments with this and let you know when changes occur!

It seems that Iowa might be trying to follow some of those other states that have imposed payday lending laws. The Des Moines Register is reporting that a few Iowa lawmakers are attempting to get a law passed that would limit the number of payday loans a consumer could take out in this state. Many are saying it is a “cycle of debt”, but many are going to keep an eye on this new potential legislation that is trying to get passed. Leadpile will certainly keep an eye on what is going to happen in Iowa. Stay tuned!