The payday loan industry is indeed in a fight for their livelihood. In regards to public perception, there are only a few choice industries with worse public perceptions, ranking close to the cigarette industries, gun control and prescription drug companies. But as with each of the aforementioned groups, civil protections, one could argue, allows adults to make adult decisions.
With so much government oversight coming on the ballots, the question must be addressed, are payday lenders to blame for community blight, in communities that had blight long before the lenders arrived, or are the fees that lenders are charging their customers totally outrageous. In Long Beach California the city council recently voted to had a temporary moratorium on allowing new lenders to set up shop. The Los Angeles business journal reports,
Check-cashing and payday loan businesses are often likened to predatory lenders that take advantage of low-income customers, and the movement to crack down on them appears to be gaining momentum.
The City Council in Long Beach, the second largest city in Los Angeles County, has voted to place a six-month citywide moratorium on new check-cashing and payday loan businesses on the grounds that they cause blight and foster crime.
Industry representatives dispute that and argue the storefronts provide a much-needed service for customers.
“Our industry as a whole is evolving, and more and more of the businesses are larger corporations and not the mom and pops,” said Mark Thomson, director of government relations for Washington-based MoneyTree Inc. “The companies are located by Wal-Marts or Starbucks and fit very much into the strip mall surroundings.” More..
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