Keep payday loans out of North Carolina
No time would be a good time to let unscrupulous payday lenders start preying on North Carolina residents again. But now — as the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted jobs and lives — letting payday lenders take advantage of those down on their luck could be devastating.
We’ve fought this battle before. Legislators banned the practice here back in 2001. But lenders, who are crafty and resourceful, have kept finding ways to creep back in. They would find loopholes. Out-of-state lenders lured borrowers with online loans. Lenders offered loans secured by the borrower’s car title. They set up shop on Native American reservations. They partnered with out-of-state banks to get around North Carolina law.
One way or another, they’d pop up again, like villains in some arcade game.
Finally, in 2006, the state’s banking commissioner ruled that the largest payday lender operating in the state, one using the out-of-state-bank ruse, was here illegally. That shut the door — for a while.
Read more: https://greensboro.com/opinion/editorials/our-opinon-keep-payday-loans-out-of-nc/article_61f06158-ebcb-11ea-b37e-ff46176ec1fb.html