Are the high rates charged by the lenders of payday loans a criminal offense? Todd Turner seems to think so. The Arkansas attorney is committed to proving that cash advance loans are usurious – even though it means going over the head of a circuit court judge. The judge in question, Barry Sims, of the Pulaski County Circuit Court, has now ruled twice that cash advance personal loans are fully constitutional. This flies in the face of Turner’s insistence that payday loans are dangerous and unethical.
In Turner’s eyes, it is “obvious” that personal loan products charging three hundred and forty percent or more are unconstitutional, and a violation of the state’s annual interest rate cap. Sims has consistently indicated, however, that he does not believe that the loans violate any laws, as cash advance lending was made exempt from the state statute back in 1999. Turner has taken several cases against the lenders of fast cash loans, and quibbles that the exception ought to be invalid. Supposedly, monies charges for payday loans count as “fees,” instead of interest. Fees are unregulated. Turner claims that judges in “several” Arkansas counties have made decisions against these lenders, and he is now pushing for the state Supreme Court to do the same.
Turner claims that the payday loan industry has been afraid to challenge individual counties’ decisions against cash advance lending, lest the debate prompt state lawmakers to outlaw the practice altogether. Currently, Arkansas maintains one of the friendliest environments for fast cash loans, due to lax restrictions. Legally, short-term personal loans may be extended for interest rates of around five hundred ninety-four percent on a one hundred dollar, fourteen-day loan.
