evince
Truthmatters
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-mon-payday-borrowers-may12,0,2759814.story
A 2005 law changed the regulations of these types of loans.
Kirk Donald was stuck in financial quicksand and sinking fast.
He hustled harder on his daytime sales job, worked night security at a nursing home and delivered papers at dawn. He emptied his family's insurance policies and retirement savings, borrowed from family and friends, and went short of food.
Why? To keep up with $2,000 in loans he had taken out without realizing that the 701 percent annual interest rate meant he would have to repay $5,848 in 4 1/2 months.
Consumer advocates are trying to protect borrowers like Donald, waging a tug-of-war with the loan industry in the Illinois legislature in an effort to close a loophole in the 2005 payday loan reform law.
The 2005 law capped rates on one type of loan: short-term "payday" loans taken out for up to 120 days are limited to 403 percent annual interest. The law also imposed protections aimed at keeping borrowers from falling into debt traps, such as limiting the number of loans to two and allowing borrowers to work out a repayment plan.
Soon after the law took effect, however, many lenders began directing borrowers to loans of 121 days or longer that did not include such safeguards, consumer advocates say. State officials acknowledge they have received complaints from consumers who claim they were shifted to the costlier loans.
A 2005 law changed the regulations of these types of loans.
Kirk Donald was stuck in financial quicksand and sinking fast.
He hustled harder on his daytime sales job, worked night security at a nursing home and delivered papers at dawn. He emptied his family's insurance policies and retirement savings, borrowed from family and friends, and went short of food.
Why? To keep up with $2,000 in loans he had taken out without realizing that the 701 percent annual interest rate meant he would have to repay $5,848 in 4 1/2 months.
Consumer advocates are trying to protect borrowers like Donald, waging a tug-of-war with the loan industry in the Illinois legislature in an effort to close a loophole in the 2005 payday loan reform law.
The 2005 law capped rates on one type of loan: short-term "payday" loans taken out for up to 120 days are limited to 403 percent annual interest. The law also imposed protections aimed at keeping borrowers from falling into debt traps, such as limiting the number of loans to two and allowing borrowers to work out a repayment plan.
Soon after the law took effect, however, many lenders began directing borrowers to loans of 121 days or longer that did not include such safeguards, consumer advocates say. State officials acknowledge they have received complaints from consumers who claim they were shifted to the costlier loans.