Payday Lending Group Living the Good Life at The Broadmoor

11 Comments

by: TheBell

(400% interest from poor people buys a lot of Broadmoor–see you next session, payday lending spammers! – promoted by Colorado Pols)

Nobody likes getting their nose rubbed in something foul, but that’s how we feel about the latest from the payday lending industry.

Payday executives and lobbyists from across the country are meeting this week in Colorado Springs. At The Broadmoor, no less.

The foul part? Each year, payday lending stores, most associated with large, national corporations, suck more than $80 million in excessive fees from predominantly low-income communities in Colorado. Now, some of that money is being spent on pillow mints and spa treatments at one of Colorado’s top resort hotels. That’s not our idea of giving back to the community.

At the legislature in recent years, payday lenders have portrayed themselves as small, Mom ‘n’ Pop outfits. Somehow we doubt that many such businesses are ponying up the dough to stay several days at the Broadmoor. The conference, which starts Thursday, is the annual meeting of one of payday lending’s trade groups, the Financial Service Centers of America Inc. (FiSCA).

FiSCA’s board is heavy with leaders from MoneyTree, Check Cashing USA, ACE Cash Express and other large corporations. To be fair, FiSCA represents more than just the payday lenders, and some participants representing large institutions such as Western Union and Capital One don’t engage in payday lending. But if you sift through the golf tournaments and other social events on the meeting agenda you’ll find an entire track devoted to payday lending.

One noteworthy fact about the conference is Friday’s featured speaker. FiSCA recruited Marc H. Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League. Mr. Morial has an impressive resume, and we hope he will use the opportunity to chastise the payday lenders about preying on low-income and minority communities.

But that’s unlikely since the payday lending industry has adopted a strategy of trying to buy its way into minority communities where they have a record of exploitation. Not long ago, the Urban League of Metropolitan Denver announced that Willie Green, former Denver Broncos receiver and current payday lending shill, had presented the league with a $10,000 check from Advance America.

Back to the Broadmoor for a moment. At the legislature two years ago, payday lenders worked overtime to defeat proposals to limit interest rates to 36 or 45 percent. They said they couldn’t stay in business without fees equal to as much as 520 percent interest.

It occurs to us that if they settled for a more reasonable fee structure, they might have to opt for the Holiday Inn down by the interstate for their next confab. But it sure would be a lot better for hard-working Coloradans who currently get caught in payday lending’s cycle of debt.

11 thoughts on “Payday Lending Group Living the Good Life at The Broadmoor”

Thorntondem says:

October 22, 2009 at 12:07 am

My hope is that our state legislators and governor will support regulating this industry further to protect Colorado citizens.

Laws prevent these pay-day lenders from preying upon active military. I think the cap on interest to active military is 30%. I appreciate the laws protecting the financial interests of the active military, but, shouldn’t all citizens be afforded the same protections?

Who will step up and do the right thing for Colorado citizens at the state capital in 2010?

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Arvadonian says:

October 22, 2009 at 12:49 am

Legalized Loan Sharking.

Great diary…

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parsingreality says:

October 22, 2009 at 1:21 am

….they don’t have to do the time.

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Ralphie says:

October 22, 2009 at 3:55 am

Committee Name: PENRY FOR GOVERNOR

SOS ID: 20095610790

Type: CANDIDATE COMMITTEE

Reporting Period: 07/01/2009 – 09/30/2009 Due: 10/15/2009

Date: 07/24/2009

Contributor: CASH AMERICA INTERNATIONAL INC. MULTI-CANDIDATE PAC

1600 W 7TH STREET

FORT WORTH, TX

Original Amount Reported: $0.00

Actual Amount: $400.00

Total Amount, this cycle: $400.00

Monetary: Yes

Contributor Type: Other

If membership organization, number of member donors:

Description:

Employer: INFORMATION REQUESTED

Occupation: INFORMATION REQUESTED

Penry’s on the payday loan payroll.

Hate to give them web traffic, but here’s Cash America Interlational’s web site:

http://www.cashamerica.com/

Just thought Pols would want to know.

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1. gertie97 says:
  
  October 22, 2009 at 7:22 pm
  
  n/t
  
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Sharon Hanson says:

October 22, 2009 at 4:04 am

Credit card companies and banks are natural predators of Payday Lending. A wise public servant or community service would recognize this relationship and exploit it by enlisting their help in bringing Payday Lending more in line with what banks and credit card companies can charge. Payday Lending is taking away business from credit card companies and banks. Credit card companies and banks have a vested interest in putting payday lending out of business and the benefited recipients of new laws governing these pariahs would be the poor and disadvantaged.

We have to be creative and resourceful when dealing with the powerful. And I would have no guilt in being an opportunist who uses credit card companies and banks to our advantage if it would help to put Payday Lending in their proper place and normalize their interest rates, fees and profits.

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1. RedGreen says:
  
  October 22, 2009 at 4:09 am
  
  While I agree with your sentiments wholeheartedly,, wouldn’t it be to the disadvantage of banks and credit card providers to make payday lenders MORE attractive to customers? If payday lenders charge lower, more reasonable rates, won’t they take even more market share from the conventional lenders?
  
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  1. Ralphie says:
    
    October 22, 2009 at 4:14 am
    
    Because many people use payday lenders to pay their credit card bills.
    
    It simply passes the beat along, but the credit card companies get their money. That’s all they care about.
    
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    1. Sharon Hanson says:
      
      October 22, 2009 at 2:51 pm
      
      They are at a disadvantage because recent regulations have eliminated some of their lucrative and predatory revenue streams. Payday Lending is still allowed to charge loan shark interest rates. This is money the banks and credit card companies are not raking in and they don’t like it. They want to own you from cradle to grave. It’s sickening.
      
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  2. cdsmith says:
    
    October 22, 2009 at 5:50 pm
    
    Actually, banks and credit card companies would be thrilled if everyone else had to compete on their terms. Payday lenders extend people offers of quick money without the paperwork and loan application process, but at ridiculous interest rates… people who are blindly convinced that things will be better in two weeks take them up on it. Serious banks lose business.
    
    At least when Chase or Washington Mutual are being predatory, it means they are jacking people’s interest rates up to 30%…. not 200%.
    
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Sir Robin says:

October 22, 2009 at 5:59 am

Financial rape is just ok.

Thanks Bell

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