Payday loans cost Hoosiers millions
INDIANAPOLIS— Payday lenders have drained an estimated $322 million in finance charges from Hoosiers over the last five years, according to a new report from groups advocating for the state to rein in those businesses.
The report, released Tuesday by the Indiana Institute for Working Families and the Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network, showed that a 2002 exemption for short-term loans allowed payday lenders to charge annual percentage rates as high as 391 percent.
“This confirms my opinion of this industry,” said State Sen. Greg Walker, a Columbus Republican who has led the fight in the legislature against the payday loan industry. “The cost is too high for all of us. When people suffer needlessly, this product doesn’t need to exist in the state of Indiana.”
According to the report, which can be read in full at http://www.incap.org/payday.html, there are 29 entities licensed to offer payday loans in Indiana, with 11 headquartered out-of-state and operating 86 percent of the payday loan offices in Indiana. In fact, the report states, five of those out-of-state firms operate 79 percent of the 262 payday loan storefronts in Indiana.
Read more: http://thestatehousefile.com/report-payday-loans-cost-hoosiers-millions/39963/