Testimonials

Krista Miller, former payday borrower 
"As is the case with many people in these economic times I found myself with more bills than money at the end of each month. I took out payday loans thinking this would an easy solution. The first one was; but the industry relies on its return customers, and that certainly was me. It all starts to have a "snowball effect."
 
No one needs this, no one needs to be charged 300% interest on a loan - that's not a service, and no one needs to be put in a position of not being able to make their mortgage payments, car payment or taxes because they don't have enough take home pay after these places are done with you."
 
Beverly Cousar, former payday borrower 
Four years ago, I was confronted with a situation that I did not know how to resolve. My son, who lives in Texas, had lost his job and his rent was coming due. In the past, he was always able to find work petty quickly.
 
I really wanted to help him. If I didn't, I was worried that he and my grandchildren would have been out on the streets. I took a loan with the expectation that my son would get a job and that I would be able to repay the loan within a month. Well, unfortunately, my son did not find a new job as quickly as he had in the past. So, when the loan came due, I had to go to another payday lender to take out a second loan, except this time it was for an additional $75 because that was the price of taking out the loan. And, I was trapped.
 
Most of you will probably never understand the feeling of being trapped by something you have no control over. Once I made that decision to go to a payday lender - and it was my personal decision that I take full responsibility for - it kept me from being able to make other choices. Desperation led me to a payday lender, but it should not have led me into a trap. That's just not right!
 
In the end, my $500 six-month loan cost me more than $3,000. The situation hurt my family. It created tremendous economic strain. It put 3,000 of my hard-earned dollars into a useless hole instead of into my grandchildren's education. It made me sad. It made me sorry. But mostly, it made me poor.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland
The law is "a common sense solution to a serious problem. We didn't ban payday lending. We reformed payday lending. A 391 percent annualized (loan) rate was unreasonable. The new cap, 28 percent, is reasonable."

"I will speak out as directly and as forcefully as I can and indicate to the people of this state the importance of this issue."

Ohio Senate President Bill Harris
"Those people who want to make a reasonable profit and provide a service will be able to stay in business."

"I'm convinced this is good legislation. You can debate the calculations, but in the final analysis, (the current law) kept folks in a process of irresolvable debt."

Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted
Payday loans are "undermining the fundamental underpinnings of the free market. With the free market comes trust and responsibility that the product you are providing is going to work. In this case, it doesn't. The business model is based on people not being able to pay it off and become trapped in a cycle of debt. It's devastating for people that are trying to get on their feet."

"We didn't ban small loans. We banned a defective product. That's what we do when it harms the free market. We're preserving the free market."

Terrence Jent, former payday lending district manager
"In one year, an individual caught in the trap with an $800 loan will pay up to $2,925 in fees alone, never touching the principal of $800." 

"Payday lenders rely on their ability to trap customers in a cycle of debt. The typical payday loan customer does not take out a loan, pay it off, and never come back."

"This short-term loan quickly turns into a second income for the borrower. They become dependent on the ability to take the loan out every two weeks, just to make ends meet. Once they're caught in the cycle, the profits begin to accumulate for the payday lender. In one year, an individual caught in the trap with an $800 loan will pay up to $2,925 in fees alone, never touching the principal of $800."

Bill Faith, executive director, Coalition on Homeless and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO)
"It is not just borrowers who experience the negative effects of payday lending.  When borrowers are using more of their limited incomes on payday loans, they turn to food pantries, churches, and social services agencies for help to make ends meet. Everyone around them feels the burden - from family, friends and neighbors, to local businesses and emergency services organizations."

"Once borrowers begin the payday lending process, it's often hard to stop, and they typically wind up involved in the product repeatedly for up 18 to 24 months."  

"Usurious lending is a drain and a strain on individuals and social resources. Fair and responsible lending is an economic and social benefit to the entire community." 

"You can dress this product up as a short term loan, but let's be real: it's a usurious product that traps people in debt because of its design, because of its intent, because of its special exemptions, because of its high interest and short pay back period, because of its aggressive marketing strategies, and because it plays on the one thing people still have when they don't have money: hope -- the unrealistic hope that things will be better in two weeks if I just take out this payday loan." 

Leslie Parrish, Center for Responsible Lending
"Payday lenders do not require the borrower to disclose debts or other obligations that would allow the lender to fully assess the borrower's ability to repay the loan, nor is the borrower's credit history taken into account."

"Regulators report that 90 percent of business is generated by borrowers with five or more transactions per year, even in states that have attempted to reform the practice."

"In states that have regulated aspects of payday lending while allowing triple-digit interest rates, regulator data shows that borrowers continue to be trapped in debt. The only proven way to ensure consumers have access to more affordable credit without abusive features is to enforce a comprehensive rate cap on all small loans products."

"Because payday loans are offered at triple-digit APRs, with the entire amount due in two short weeks, borrowers who pay back their loan are often unable meet their other obligations without taking out a new payday loan during the same pay period. This is the start of the debt trap, which can leave borrowers indebted to payday lenders for several months or years."

"The Department of Defense found that soldiers were getting so deep into payday loan debt that it was causing them to lose security clearances and threatening deployment schedules overseas. Congress responded to these concerns by passing a law which prevents active-duty military families across the country from being charged more than 36 percent annual interest on payday loans."

Representative Bill Batchelder (R-Medina)
"Any efficient business can make a profit under the reasonable and generous usury cap we have proposed.  We must remember that usury caps have been a long-standing institution of our capitalist system and responsible lenders welcome such a generous ceiling."

"Payday lenders stand alone in resisting this interest rate cap. Why? Because in order for their business to work, they have to lure borrowers into taking out loans over and over, charging them nearly 400 percent interest.  By the time a customer takes out their seventh loan (normally in less than six months) they have paid more in interest and fees than they ever borrowed!  Worse, the average payday customer in Ohio takes out 13 loans a year, paying twice as much in fees and interest than they borrowed!"

"We should not be supporting a wasteful industry that is detrimental to our economy. It smacks of a government bailout for bad lending, such as what we've seen in the unraveling mortgage market. We know that comes to no good."

"We must learn from the subprime fiasco and diligently apply free-market principles to payday lending, as well, refusing special exemptions, leveling the playing field for responsible lenders and disallowing credit practices that force borrowers into debt rather than offer real choices and opportunities.  Usury is not freedom."

"Like gambling, payday lending is a net drain on our economy. There is no multiplier effect from these loans; they do not provide investment funds for working people struggling to keep their families moving toward self-sufficiency. Payday lending undermines the savings and investment principles essential to a healthy free-market economy."

Nick Dinardo, attorney, Legal Aid Society of Southwestern Ohio
"Payday loans are a flawed, defective product.  They are designed to be like quicksand, they're a trap, once you get in, you can't get out.  Every week, I see someone with multiple loans from multiple lenders; they borrow from one to pay off another.  These are the working poor, living paycheck to paycheck."
 

"So, what happens when a consumer can't repay their payday loan on time?  Payday lenders harass consumers on the job, telling them, and anyone else at the place of employment who will listen, that they are not paying their loan.  This causes some borrowers to have their employment threatened."

"This practice is unethical and immoral.  There must be a rate cap on this type of loan in order to protect the working poor in Ohio.  Legislation without a rate cap is worthless."
 

Bishop Ough, Bishop, West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church
"You don't have to study the Bible to know that charging 391 percent interest on a loan is just plain wrong, but if you do look to the Good Book, you'll find plenty of evidence to back up that idea. Usury is certainly not a new way to take advantage of the poor. It's as old as money itself, and it is just as abusive now as it was then."

"For years, the payday lending industry has financially exploited economically vulnerable populations.  Low-income families, the elderly, minorities, and military personnel have all been targets of these abusive lenders.  The industry takes advantage of borrowers' desperate need for cash, making loans at 391 percent interest."

"Payday lending is not only a financially irresponsible practice, it is a morally irresponsible one as well.  It has taken advantage of unsuspecting individuals feeling as if they have no other financial alternatives. As Jesus instructs us to "love our neighbor" (Mark 12:31), we should strive to protect the welfare of our fellow brethren - just as Jesus did in the temple."

Chris Browning, former store manager for one of Ohio's largest payday lending chains
"Repeat borrowers are the payday loan institution's bread and butter." 

"You won't see brochures in a Country Club.  You will, however, find them in low-end apartment complexes, trailer park offices, factories, medical facilities, auto repair shops, furniture rental companies and laundromats. These are the people payday lenders want as customers.  The people that will need to borrow on a continual basis and never get out of the cycle."

"It's time for the State of Ohio to take a stand and stop predatory lending practices of payday lenders."

"They were a good idea in the beginning, but now have become greedy and prey on the lower income families for profit.   Profit is not a dirty word, but greed is!"

"I tried to get customers out of the payday loan cycle.   I was there for them when they so desperately needed extra money for some unforeseen financial crisis.  But, I also showed them the fees they were paying to this company on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis and would counsel with these customers to take less money each time, in order to get them out of this cycle.  Was that against what the company wanted? Yes."