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Nov. 18, 2004 My name is Robert and I used to be employed by a "Cash Advance" outfit. I wish there were a 10- step program to help me deal with the guilt associated with being an employee of a quasi-loan shark operation. For a measly few bucks an hour I was a cog in an industry that chews up and exploits the working poor. I offer this essay as a means of cleansing my soul and as a cautionary tale to those in financial need. In their commercials the biggest Cash Advance company stresses how fast and easy it is to get a loan. Of course it is. I'm sure a pimp doesn't require a young girl to fill out a lengthy application form before she can join his stable. Behind all those gaudy "Cash Advance" signs sprouting like weeds in low-income neighborhoods are a thousand tales of misery. Inside the storefronts, the working poor line up for loans to get by until the next payday. Many of them are caught in a cycle of financial ruin, taking out new loans to pay off the old ones. The rates are typically $15.00 to borrow $100.00 until the next payday, which works out to an annual rate of close to 900 percent. Cash Advance purveyors make loan sharks look like Peace Corp. volunteers. One time this woman had tears in her eyes as she told me how grateful she was to me for approving her loan she needed so that her car would not be repossessed. Now I know how a crack dealer must feel when a crack head tearfully thanks him for selling him his last rock. I wore many hats at the Cash Advance place that I worked for. I was a loan shark dispensing loans at rates bordering on usury, but I was also an enforcer. The employees were responsible for collecting delinquent loans. The conglomerate that I worked for required applicants to list five local references. If a poor stiff was even an hour late paying back his advance the collection process immediately went into overdrive. We starting placing calls at his home, place of employment and at his grandma's house if she was listed as a reference. We even made field calls to the applicant's residence. The dispensers of these "payday loans" not only have no shame, they have no real oversight. The state of Virginia needs to enact legislation to put a more reasonable ceiling on the loan fees. It should require cash advance outlets that offer payday loans to adhere to basic auditing and reporting requirements that apply to other small lenders. At the very least the governor should commission a study of the industry that should become the basis for more rigorous regulation. I have some advice for the working poor in need of some quick cash until their next payday, "Don't let a Cash Advance company get you in its clutches. Go see Tony the Bull or try selling your soul to the devil instead." I'm hoping to find a more legitimate way of making a living. Perhaps as a piano player at a brothel or as a barker for a strip joint. Editorial Note: This essay was written a while back; I now have a legitimate job. ------------ About the author Robert Paul Reyes: I am a columnist for the Lynchburg Ledger. Email: rreyes4966@aol.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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