According to CareerBuilder.com, a whopping 61% of American households lived paycheck to paycheck in 2009. That number is huge, especially since only 49% lived that way in 2008, and only 41% in 2007. Whether it is due to losing one or both household incomes or simply a reduction in the household incomes, the statistic is staggering. With families not able to adequately save for any unexpected expense that may arise, they are finding that more often than not there is more month than money. So what happens when the rent/mortgage payment is due, groceries need to be purchased, and then the car breaks down? For some, a small personal loan at a local bank is all it takes to get back on track. For many though, this isn’t an option, and they …show more content…
If the provided bank account doesn’t have sufficient funds, the borrower would incur a bounced check fee from their financial institution in addition to an increase in the loans interest rate. For families who were strapped before this vicious loan cycle, it would appear that there is no way out.
The Payday Loan Trap: How Borrowers get Caught Up
For a typical $500 loan, if the lender charges $25 per $100 borrowed, when the time comes to repay that $500 loan you will also be shelling out $125 in fees, making your total loan repayment a whopping $625. For people who were already strapped, an extra $125 in fees can put even more strain on their budget. If they can’t meet the repayment obligation they are forced to extend the terms of the loan incurring even more fees and penalties. Until the borrower can save enough to stop the payday cycle, it will continue to the detriment of the borrower.
Because of this nasty lending cycle, payday lending is illegal in 15 states, and is regulated elsewhere. In some states, borrowers are only allowed to take out a specific number of loans per year. In other states borrowers can only take out a specified number of loans at a time, and after a certain length of time the lender must lower the interest and extend the term so the borrower can get out of debt.
Ways to Avoid Payday Lending
For low- and middle-class borrowers who either don’t have much in the way of assets or who have poor credit, when
Sometimes, though, the problem isn't the debt or a person's salary. The problem is the way student loans get billed.
The main problem that most critics have with payday lenders is that many people recycle their loans and become trapped in cycles of debt. Some people use the loans irresponsibly or get loans from multiple lenders to buy things that they don't need or to enable unhealthy personal habits. These loans were never intended to be used in these ways, so some people get in trouble. The same holds true for all kinds of
revolving loan (such as a large line-of-credit or a car loan), which would make it harder for them
I am going to look at one of America's most resilient industries. The Predatory lending better known as Payday loans, and even sometimes pass as car lenders and mortgage lenders. One in twenty households have taken one out at some point. And is estimated to be a nine billion dollar industry. With payday loan outlets are all over the place. The ethical question comes into place. When you question whether if receiving one of these loans can be a benefit or drag the person signing into the loan deeper in debt. Im very interested on this subject because I believe that payday loans can be very useful and benefit the general public, if we put in place very specific laws and restrain what lenders can do making sure that there is
Payday loans online no credit check instant approval program can be a facility for the people. But availing this kind of loan frequently brings in more problems. This type of program is known for providing loan to the borrower within 1 hour of submitting the application. As no credit check is done for this type of loan, but having a bad credit score means that the borrower becomes ineligible for the future loans. Bad credit score is generated when the borrower generally does late payments
If a poor family of five suddenly has their refrigerator break they will think that their only option is to take out a short term loan to be able to afford to fix it. They end up paying ridiculously high interest rates over a long span of time, forcing them to pay over five times what they needed in the first place in some occasions. Another example of this is financing offered by major companies, an average iPad would normally cost under six hundred dollars upfront, but the company Apple offers a family looking to purchase one a weekly payment plan for a year and a half. After seventy-eight weeks the family can end up paying just slightly under two thousand dollars for the same iPad. The poor often don’t trust banks either, this is because of a combination of factors. They take their loans out at banks if they’re lucky enough to be approved, with APR, annual percentage rates, as high as six hundred precent. Even though these loans are meant to take weeks at a time at most to repay, researcheers have found the on average poor families take up to nine of these loans and end up being indebted for over a year! They do not read or understand the terms and conditions that they decide to sign. Banks also charge overdraft fees for the poor who already had trouble managing their money, as well as banking fees if they cannot meet the monthly minimum account balance.
In the article “Me, The Other Scott, And Payday Loans” by Scott Gilmore, the author is furious to find that most people are being drained out of money they don’t have. In my opinion, I agree with the author. I do not think it is right for Payday loans to be tricking people with little to no assets to pay for an amount they cannot pay back. According to the article, annual percentage rate is more than 540, while loan sharks charge double that. Loan sharks will gladly extend the loan for two more weeks, that way they can charge more interest rate. Stan Keyes, the president of the Canadian Payday association argues that “It is unfair to calculate the interest rate this way, since the loans are typically for two weeks. However he concedes that
This happens when the borrower fails to pay off the debt and it keeps piling on top of itself. This could lead to you, the student, being in the hole financially, under a great amount of stress, and possibly even giving up and dropping out of college to get a job to pay off your loans. The numbers show that nearly thirty percent of student loan borrowers wind up dropping out of school, and more than fifty percent of borrowers at two-year for-profit colleges never finish. This is why trying to keep away from student loans is the best way to stay on the path to meeting your
Proposed house legislation in the state of Ohio would ban payday lending completely. This comes on the heels of ineffective legislation, a public veto referendum, and a state Supreme Court case which explain the movement toward increased regulation.
Americans who need a short term loan to repair a car, fly quickly to a stick relative beside or catch up on child care payments even find themselves going to payday lenders ether online or trough one of the thousands of payday lending store fronts. (Wherry) using online is a way to pay or catch up with your due date of the payment that you owe. Having someone that can help you with a payment is a payday lender that can help you with a car payment also paying your rent or buying food or also buying a new sofa. Nationally borrowers spend roughly 8.7 billion per year on payday loans fees and what might start as a 500 lifetime can become a heavily burden. (Wherry) having a borrower that lend you a loan can be easy but it’s time to payback that is when it became complicated. Also having a fee is very complicated because they pressure you to pay back when you miss your due date. Annual interest rates for payday loans typically run between 391 and 351 percent a cording to the center for responsible lending and most people who use them end up paying more in fees over the course of the year than they originally received credit. (Wherry) annual rates are very high in percentage because of lending tem money and not paying back on the due date. Having these huge percentages are too much but when you borrow more than you need the more you ending up paying than the last
In the newspaper article, Me the Other Scott and Payday loans, Scott voices his opinion that payday outlet companies are on the edge of committing fraud. Payday Loan companies constantly feed off of those families living with low to middle income, who can barely afford continuous asset payments, leading to advance payday loans being the only possible resort. Payday loaners are just skimming legality lines when over charging interest rates to those who are in desperate need. Those who have no other choice eventually have to pay off the loan plus an additional cost to borrowing the loan in the first place, falling into a continuous cycle of debt. The government sets up those living in lower to mid income to be trapped in a never ending cycle
Debt is among the greatest challenges we face today, personally and as a country. More and more people are falling into this growing problem. Payday loan companies exploit this problem. Even though the loan amounts are relatively low, the
Payday lending, or predatory lending is a business that is similar to what loan sharks do. Definition of 'Payday Loan' A type of short-term borrowing where an individual borrows a small amount at a very high rate of
In my opinion, I believe that loans are good for people who can borrow money and pay the company back as soon as possible. Those who do not pay them back receive an increase in interest every time they miss a payment. Targeting people who have a low to moderate income, payday loan companies are in the areas that these individuals live in. As Gilmore says, “A recent study by St.Michael’s Hospital in Toronto found a correlation between the number of payday lenders in a neighbourhood and premature mortality”. To avoid falling behind on payments, young people can seek for help to reduce stress. In conclusion, I think that
Payday loan companies, by definition, act as profitable organizations. The main goal for any profitable organization is the growth of profit and enterprise. Evidently, the target market for these businesses are lower income consumers with minimal assets. In Canada, the population of low income citizens accounts for a majority percentage in comparison to the middle and higher income class. Payday loans seek business from impoverished individuals and communities simply because they are a large untapped financial market.