Category: South Carolina

The Payday Loan Industry Blog writes:

“South Carolina has turned down an appeal protesting its previous decision to award a contract to Veritec Solutions for the establishment of an online database system for tracking payday loans applied for by residents of South Carolina.”

We’ve, personally, worked with Veritec. They’re pretty good to work with. What I don’t get is all this Big Brother stuff that the states are doing. For example, in Illinois, they’re adding title loans to the state database. All I can say is that things are going in the wrong direction.

The Prism Group, a Columbia based company, is holding up the deal to award Veritec Solutions the contract for The South Carolina payday database. Similar databases are already in use in states like: Illinois, Florida, Michigan and Indiana.

The Prism Group thinks the deal is worth up to $15m over 5 years and does not think the state got this right.

You can read the full story in The State.

The Governor’s veto was over-turned. As a matter of fact, all ten of his vetoes were over turned.

Bill 3301: Regulates payday lending by limiting loans per customer and establishing a cooling off period between loans. House voted 105-4, Senate 39-3.

It also limits each borrower to one loan, while increasing the max loan amount to $550.

So the next big question is, who gets to give the customer his or her one loan? I hope you have a good location.

A payday bill that is supported by the industry, consumer groups and legislators passed 41-4 in the Senate and 102-6 in the House. The Governor decided to veto this bill. Law makers will probably over-ride this veto.

This article in The Sun brings up a good point:

“The administration has always fallen solidly on the side of maximizing individual liberty – so people are able to make both the stupid, and wise, decisions that are the hallmark of a free and market-based society,” the governor wrote in his June 2 message.

In a free market society, to make it work, we have to let people make bad decisions; if that is their will. If you don’t, it’s not free.

A spokesman from Advance America had this to say:

“the measure helps those who can’t pay, while ensuring access to the short-term credit.”

My understanding is, let people make decisions for themselves, whether their good or bad; but let’s alleviate the consequences if they’re extreme.

Here’s what the Gov. had to say after vetoing a new bill in S.C.:

“Boiled down, it is this administration’s abiding belief that government’s role is not to protect people from their own actions, unless those actions in substantial form impact the lives of others,” Sanford said in his veto letter.

Here’s what Advance America’s Jamie Fulmer had to say:

Am I missing something here? Why did they pass the first bill that capped the maximum loan amount at $300?

You can read the full AP article here.

It’s the never ending drama in South Carolina. What appears to be a payday loan industry supported bill in South Carolina is stalling. The house of representatives passed a bill that would cap loan amounts at $300 and create a two-day cooling off period between loans.

I guess the two-day waiting period is not enough for some legislators.

Jamie Fulmer of Advance America says, “We think specific and direct reforms that protect the consumer’s ability to access payday advance products while affording addition protections for the small number of consumers who don’t use the product as intended is a good thing.”

The payday loan industry in South Carolina is trying to get the legislature to ease up on regulations imposed last year.

This year, on a 27-14 vote, the Senate rejected a bid to limit payday loans to the lesser of 25 percent of a borrower’s income, or $500, and imposed a seven-day cooling off period between loans.

Payday lenders do not want a cap on loans and can live with a two-day cooling off period. The payday loan industry has spent over $300k on lobbyist and political contributions. Let’s hope their side gets heard.

Completely marginalizing lenders or making it impossible to borrow is not the solution.

You can read more about payday loans in the The State.

TheState.com reports that a senate subcommittee removed half of a provision that would limit borrowers to 25% of their gross paycheck. Now the bill limits a loan to a $500 max.

Other provisions worth noting is a 2-day cooling off period.

I think Jamie Fulmer of Advance America says it best, “It still places a whole host of arbitrary limits on the industry.”

Regardless, it looks like the state is willing to atleast work with both sides.

Can anyone say payday loan alternative product? It looks like the industry will soon be heading for one in South Carolina.

The Associated Press reports “A Senate subcommittee on Thursday approved a bill that requires a seven-day cooling off period between taking out the loans. It also restricts the loans to a maximum of $600 or 25 percent of a borrower’s income.”

Jamie Fulmer, spokesman for Advance America, says “the bill now heading to the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee will put payday lenders like the Spartanburg company out of business.”