Activists Take Aim at Payday Lenders

Is anybody here involved in this? If so, THANK YOU! I've never used them myself, but family members have and it took them a long time to get out from under the debt.

Activists Take Aim at Payday Lenders

By BRAD CAIN
Associated Press Writer
SALEM, Ore. - Community activists, union leaders and church groups are banding together to promote a measure for November's ballot to limit the loan rates charged by payday lenders throughout Oregon.

The payday loan industry has been growing rapidly in Oregon to satisfy the public's demand for short-term loans. But backers of the initiative measure say a new state law is needed to protect people from lenders who at times charge more than 500 percent interest.

To help bring about such a change, the Our Oregon coalition is teaming up with the main state chapter of the Service Employees International Union, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, the Oregon Food Bank and other groups to place the measure before voters this fall.

"We're going to have a huge volunteer program on this. People are very excited about it," said Patty Wentz of the Our Oregon coalition, which filed the initiative to cap most payday loan annual interest rates at 36 percent and loan origination fees at 10 percent.

more - http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=83485