A nonprofit group comprised of Kansas City churches, bankers,
lawyers and nonprofit agencies has begun offering an alternative to
the payday loan industry for people who need a small amount of
quick cash.
The group, called Fair Community Credit, this month issued what
it hopes will be the first of 500 loans in its first year of
business. The loans will generally range from $300 to $2,500 and
customers will have slightly longer to pay off the loans and the
interest rates will be far lower than the average 390 percent
interest rate charged by the payday loan industry, The Kansas City
Star reported ( http://bit.ly/xZdWUi).
Fair Community Credits organizers, working with Central Bank of
Kansas City, will make the loans from a more than $200,000 loan
guarantee pool donated by foundations and individuals. The catch is
customers must be referred to the group, which increases the
chances of the loans being repaid. So far, seven churches and
social agencies have agreed to refer only people they know
well.
People like Stevie Wakes, a Baptist minister in Kansas City,
Kan., who took out a $500 loan after having his pay sharply
reduced. He thought he would be able to pay it back in two weeks
but when he couldnt he had to renew his loan so often that the
$500 loan grew to $1,250 in four months. His annual interest rate
ballooned to 450 percent until he scraped together the cash to pay
off the loan.
Its a debt trap, Wakes said.
Fair Community Credits organizers realize that 500 loans wont
make much of a dent in an industry that, according to the Missouri
Division of Finance, issued 2.4 million loans in Missouri last
year. But they hope others in the region will copy their
effort.
We want it to be replicated, said Eva Schulte, executive
director of Communities Creating Opportunity, which worked three
years to establish Fair Community Credit.
The new product comes as local, state and federal officials are
considering restrictions on the payday loan industry.
Last week, Jackson County joined Kansas City and several other
area cities in restricting where payday lenders, pawn shops and
similar businesses can locate. Also last week, the federal consumer
protection agency announced it will begin taking a hard look at the
industry.
And at least two bills capping interest rates payday loans can
carry are pending in the Missouri General Assembly. And industry
critics in Missouri are mounting a statewide campaign to limit the
amount of interest payday lenders can charge customers at 36
percent, which is what Fair Community charges its customers.
Although the issue isnt on the ballot yet, campaign finance
reports show that representatives of payday lenders and the
installment loan business have collected more than $1 million to
try to keep the measure off the ballot.
Randy Scherr, a lobbyist for United Payday Lenders of Missouri,
said the high interest rates on payday loans are transparent and
are far lower than the overdraft fees someone might pay if several
checks bounce because of insufficient funds. And he said people who
take out payday loans know what they are doing.
People are very satisfied with the product, Scherr said,
because they know going in exactly what they will pay to borrow
money.
He said Fair Community Credit is just another competitor in the
lending field, from title loans to check-cashing operations and
pawn shops.
I welcome them to the marketplace and wish them well, Scherr
said. Competition is good.
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Information from: The Kansas City Star,
http://www.kcstar.com
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