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PRESSURE MOUNTS ON VA. PAYDAY LENDERS Coalition Plans to Push Legislature for Limits
By Anita Kumar RICHMOND -- In the five years since payday lenders opened their doors in Virginia , nearly 800 stores have sprouted in all corners of the state. That's more than all the Starbucks coffee shops, even more than all the McDonald's restaurants. As borrowers have taken out cash advances against their paychecks, the industry has exploded, leaving thousands of Virginians in a cycle of debt they cannot escape. Next month, a coalition of diverse organizations -- including business and labor groups, the NAACP and the Family Foundation of Virginia -- will band together to try to persuade the General Assembly to impose stiffer regulations on payday lenders. Three states that border Virginia , including Maryland , don't allow payday lending stores. The District is moving to curtail them. ButVirginia' s legislature allows lenders to charge annual interest rates as much as almost 400 percent for a short-term loan. Virginia officials say they are worried that stores will close in the District and reopen in Northern Virginia now that the D.C. Council has voted to cap interest rates that payday lenders can charge at 24 percent. One of the chief sponsors of the 2002 law that opened Virginia to payday lending now calls the industry "an open sore." "I'm embarrassed I was ever affiliated with it at all," said Del. Harvey B. Morgan (R-Gloucester) . More than 30 Virginia cities and counties have approved resolutions seeking stricter regulations. Alexandria is asking for a cap on interest rates, and Arlington County is including payday lending reform on its wish list for the General Assembly session that starts Jan. 9. Fairfax County officials might decide as soon as today whether to join the movement. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) and some legislators say they want to place stronger regulations on payday lenders. This year, the legislature considered a dozen bills that would have imposed more restrictions, but none passed, in part because of the industry's clout. Payday lenders spent $1 million on lobbyists in this year's session. They donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to legislative campaigns this year, far more than in the previous election cycle. And they have a powerful friend in incoming Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw, a business-friendly Democrat from Fairfax County who supported modest changes favored by the industry last session. "It's going to take a lot of work for this General Assembly to do what it needs to do," said Ward Scull, a Newport News businessman who formed Virginians Against Payday Loans this year after one of his employees was unable to pay off her loans. The Community Financial Services Association of America, which represents more than half of all payday lenders, is running TV commercials in Virginia to get its message out before the legislative session starts. Payday lenders say they support reforms but not capping interest rates at the level they expect to be proposed, which they say would put them out of business. "We think consumers are smart enough to make decisions about what's good for them," said Jamie Fulmer, spokesman for Advance America, the nation's largest payday loan company. Payday customers typically borrow a few hundred dollars against a future paycheck for a few weeks. Lenders hold a customer's personal check until the next payday, when borrowers pay off the loan or lenders cash the personal check, made out for the amount of the loan plus the fee. Loans are capped at $500 and are only available to those with a paycheck. In Virginia, lenders can charge $15 for every $100 loaned. Calculated as an annual rate, the interest comes to 391 percent, according to industry officials and consumer groups. Industry supporters say the alternative -- bouncing a check -- costs far more, the equivalent of more than 1,300 percent. In 2006, about 434,000 people in Virginia took out almost 3.6 million loans worth $1.3 billion, according to the state Bureau of Financial Institutions. That's roughly one in 18 residents. They are people such as Bill Donaldson, a retired welder in Newport News , who took loans out every month for several years and could not keep up with payments. He died last year at 67. His electricity was shut off five times; his phone service, 10 times. His landlord threatened to evict him a dozen times. A payday lender contacted his daughter, who paid off the loan. "They really take advantage of elderly people who can't manage their money," said his daughter, Teressa Penland , 41, of York County . Payday loans are supposed to be a way for borrowers to get a short-term loan for a one-time need, such as repairing a car or paying a medical bill, but many get caught in an expensive cycle of borrowing. Last year, almost 100,000 borrowers in Virginia took out 13 or more loans, according to the state bureau. Bill Harrod, 58, of Upper Marlboro, who managed a payday store in the District, started speaking out against the industry after he noticed that some loans were five or more years old. "That was the awakening for me. We weren't doing anyone a service," he said last week, taking a break from his job as a salesman at a Ford dealership. "I was ashamed of what I had been doing. I thought I was helping people, but I was kicking people when they were down." Payday lenders operate in 38 states under a variety of restrictions. Some states, including Maryland and West Virginia , have never created laws allowing them. Others, such as North Carolina , once allowed them but now ban them. Last year, Congress voted to place a 36 percent cap on payday loans for military personnel after hearing horror stories about soldiers and their families' debt. The Virginia General Assembly passed the Payday Loan Act in 2002 to license and regulate the industry. After hearing from angry borrowers and their families, lawmakers tried to make changes this year. But negotiations fell apart when even opponents could not agree on whether to repeal the 2002 law, cap interest rates at 36 or 72 percent or limit the number of outstanding loans allowed. The industry supported a bill, sponsored by Saslaw, that called for other changes. Among the proposals: a database of borrowers, a limit on outstanding loans to three per customer, an extended payment plan for some borrowers, a restriction on taking out a new loan the same day another is paid off and signs in stores listing other ways to get small loans through nonprofit organizations. Fulmer, with Advance America, called the bill a "reasonable compromise" that aimed to protect consumers while allowing them access to needed loans. "It was left on the table," he said. "Hopefully we'll go back to the General Assembly again, roll up our sleeves and find real reform." Saslaw has said he will not sponsor the bill again next year. He did not return phone calls last week. The Community Financial Services Association has imposed some changes on its members. It is allowing some customers more time to pay off loans. It has also begun to require member companies to use poster-size displays to disclose fees and has started a Web site to advise consumers on responsible uses of payday advances. Kaine said recently that he hopes the General Assembly will consider payday lending industry reform, possibly a repeal of the 2002 law. The governor's staff tried to broker a compromise over the summer, but the consumer groups, most of which are demanding a 36 percent cap, refused to participate in talks. "There is far greater unity this year," Del. G. Glenn Oder (R-Newport News) said. "In the past, there has always been a cluster of people, half saying yes and half saying no." Quick Facts From 2006 Number of payday loan locations: 791 Number of people who took out payday loans: 433,537 Number of payday loans: 3,593,401 Dollar amount of payday loans: $1,311,902,855 Average loan amount: $365 Annual average interest rate charged: 378 percent SOURCE: Virginia Bureau of Financial Institutions Growing Giving Campaign contributions in Virginia from the consumer lending industry: 2006-07: $874,186 2004-05: $465,649 2002-03: $209,985 SOURCE: Virginia Public Access Project Rev. C. Douglas Smith Executive Director Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy P.O. Box 12516 Richmond, Virginia 23241
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