Gambler Loses $127 million in Vegas. Terrance Watanabe inherited over a $100M fortune from a company his father started importing party favors. Makes me wonder if I’m in the wrong business.
After selling the company, Watanabe, took up a new hobby; gambling.
The tragedy in all this is that he may wind up going to jail. In Nevada, you can go to jail if you borrow money from a casino and do not pay them back.
Kentucky currently has 743 payday loan stores. Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear wants legislators to cap the rates at 36%.
Kentucky current loan terms are:
Maximum Loan Amount: $500
Loan Term: 14-60 days
Maximum Finance Rate and Fees: $15 per $100
Finance Charge for 14-day $100 loan: $17.65
APR for 14-day $100 loan: 459%
Maximum Number of Outstanding Loans at One Time: Two ($500 aggregate loans outstanding to all licensees)
Most of Canada’s provinces have capped rates. The lowest cap is $17 per $100. That’s pretty good if you’re a lender.
Compared to the US market, Canada is pretty small. According to Wikipedia, Canada has about 35M residents compared to close to 325M for the United States.
The CFPA is getting steam. The final vote, in the House, was 223 to 202. No Republicans voted for the bill and 27 Democrats voted against it. The legislation now heads to the senate.
Republicans Pat Tiberi made an good comment:
“This bill would do nothing more than make government bailout programs a permanent part of our economy, paving the way for more government control in our everyday lives.”
You can read more in the Columbus Dispatch.
Check ’n Go spokesman Jeff Kursman said the company, which has 1,100 loan shops nationally, will close all its Washington locations by Jan. 1.
This is not as shocking as it may seem. They currently have 3 locations, but do not see the point in expanding in a state with heavy restrictions.
The state of Washington is limiting each citizen to 8 loans a year and capping those rates, not to mention; income restrictions.
Read more about payday loans in Washington.
Quik Cash is accused of filing collections lawsuits in courts far from where debtors live or take out loans in the state of Arizona.
Arizona authorities think it made it easier to get default judgments in court b/c the court was far away from the borrowers.
They’re looking for $5M in restitution.
Read more in ABC15.com.
A journalist for the Washington Post estimates that 60 million people have limited or no access to banks or other traditional financial services.
The article is more of a call to arms for banks. It’s titled “FDIC: Quarter of U.S. households have limited or no access to banks.”
I think this journalist is backing into a belief that banks offer cheaper services than other financial institutions. This is not the case. Just yesterday, an op-ed in the Boston Globe ripped banks for charging excessive fees money order compared to check cashers. I also think a payday loan is cheaper than an nsf.
Just because banks offer free checking, does not mean they’re some not-for-profit operation.
Interesting op-ed about the check cashing industry in the Boston Globe titled “Banking on the Unbanked.”
It basically praises check cashers and rips banks a new one. Take this quote for example:
“A recent study by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that the nation’s 12 largest banks, responsible for issuing more than 80 percent of credit cards, engage in practices that the Federal Reserve deemed “unfair or deceptive.”
The article praises check cashing outlets for posting their fees upfront for their customers. For the record, payday lenders post their fees on the walls in their locations too.
The article does take a swipe at payday loans, but you can’t blame the economic meltdown on payday lenders. Can’t say that about our banks.
Rep. Brian Yates of Missouri is stepping down from office to take a position w/ payday lender QC Financial.
This, in of itself, is not big news; but I think it’s showing that a cash advance is beginning to become mainstream.
You can read the full article in St. Louis Today.
Governor Jan Brewer is drawer criticism for some of his “associates” helping the payday loan industry.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says “It’s not inappropriate that some of her political associates are doing work for the payday loan industry that could result in controversial legislation reaching her desk.”
That’s more like it. You can read the full article in the Chron Business News.