Re:Consumer Protection Bureau Aims to Roll Back Rules for Pa...
by SilasX on Wednesday February 06, 2019 @05:24PM
(#19100719)
That's an unnecessarily inflammatory way to put it, but yes, there are smarter ways to do this kind of regulation, that involve more "informing the consumer" and less "bad, symptom-of-problem! Go away and the problem is solved!"
In CA several years ago, I checked out a payday loan place for a cash advance, and what surprised me was that, apparently, they suggest a bunch of (cheaper, non-profit) alternatives to using them, and only then approve the loan. I don't know if that's a law that they have to, but that seems like a better way to go about this.
Similarly, like you say, maybe the core problem is bad spending patterns. Posters like to copypasta the Vimes bit about "the poor are poor because they don't have the upfront money to pay 2x for something that will last 10x". Well, if true, maybe mandate that kind of counseling at payday lenders.
Those seem like better ways to address the core problem than banning the practice.
In CA several years ago, I checked out a payday loan place for a cash advance, and what surprised me was that, apparently, they suggest a bunch of (cheaper, non-profit) alternatives to using them, and only then approve the loan. I don't know if that's a law that they have to, but that seems like a better way to go about this.
Similarly, like you say, maybe the core problem is bad spending patterns. Posters like to copypasta the Vimes bit about "the poor are poor because they don't have the upfront money to pay 2x for something that will last 10x". Well, if true, maybe mandate that kind of counseling at payday lenders.
Those seem like better ways to address the core problem than banning the practice.