Thanks for the comment.

I think that the government should be in charge of stopping things that are bad for its citizens. I don’t think it should allow its citizens to be taken advantage of, and this is what I think payday loans do to some people.

For example, I can take a 0% loan whenever I want by using my credit card. (The amount of time I can take this loan varies depending on how close it is to my bill being due.) If I can’t pay all my credit card bill by the time it is due I still only will pay interest at about a 20% APY. This is something afforded to me because I come from a middle class background and have relatively healthy finances.

Am I in some way better than somebody that hasn’t had access to the same level of education and job training? Does my upbringing entitle me to pay an APY of 20%? To me this doesn’t seems very fair.

The fact that economically disadvantage persons suffer at the hand of payday loans is something that I don’t like. I also don’t like that banks charge them excessive fees. This is bad for our society and it should stop.

When I learned that I actually had voted in direct opposition to what I had intended, I almost complained to the voting officials and asked to have my ballot nullified. However, what with the craziness over the rabid attempts to keep immigrants away from the polls, I figured that was inviting trouble (I might never get near the polls again myself!), and so I just let it go.

But it made me very angry. It was deliberate deception and, and the proposition should never have been allowed to go to the voters like that.

Thanks for stopping by and for your thoughtful comment.

While I understand that late fees for missed bills and bounced check fees for improperly written checks can be astronomically high in terms of their APR, I do think that payday loans are a completely different beast.

With that said, I don’t think I would mind eliminating late fees on certain necessary utilities for the economically disadvantaged. Things like water, power, internet, housing, and land telephones should not have an associated late fee if a person is below a certain income level. I don’t mind the late fee on rich people or on luxury items (like cell phones, cable television, or car payments).

Most things that hurt those in need of help I would oppose.

I do work with Check ‘n Go, and part of my job is to see what conversation is taking place about the payday loan industry. And while it’s true the APR rates are in the 300’s, it is often forgotten payday loans are short term loans. Meaning, if a person is responsible with this loan, just like they should be with any other type of loan or even credit cards, it is a great resource to help them in tough financial times. When you compare bounced check fees, late fees, and harming your credit score; a payday loan is a responsible resource when used appropriately.

Unfortunately, not everybody uses a payday loan responsibly (which happens with so many Americans and their credit cards) and the industry has received a bad rap because of it.