Advance America targets Homeless for loans
Date: Fri, 01/04/2008 - 12:51
[quote]Advance America Targets Former Homeless in Montana
For the most part, the payday loan industry manages to sound pretty convincing when its representatives swear that lenders don’t purposely target lower-income individuals and families. It’s a long-standing allegation against the cash advance lending business that fast cash loan merchants deliberately locate their stores in working-poor neighborhoods, and aggressively aim television, radio, and mail campaigns to consumers living in these areas. The bigger implication is that the lenders of these controversial personal loans intentionally market their products to people who can ill afford them – in the hope of collection more finance fees and interest charges when these hapless souls inevitably become delinquent or default on their obligations. National payday loan mouthpiece the Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA) has maintained for years that lenders are innocent of these charges.
It’s kind of hard to believe in the veracity of these protests, however, when you look at the fact that the nation’s largest payday loan merchant was hanging print advertisements in plastic bags off the doorknobs of housing units in Kalispell, Montana, in a complex intended for those transitioning from homelessness. On December 12th, residents of the Courtyard Apartments were solicited with brochures from Advance America Cash Advance, which distributes fast cash loans in Montana at interest rates of over five hundred percent annually.
When Advance America’s Kalispell office was contacted for comment on the story, the payday loan office directed local reporters towards the fast cash loan company’s national representative. Jamie Fulmer said that he could not comment on the cash advance personal loan advertising at the Courtyard Apartments. [/quote]
For the most part, the payday loan industry manages to sound pretty convincing when its representatives swear that lenders don’t purposely target lower-income individuals and families. It’s a long-standing allegation against the cash advance lending business that fast cash loan merchants deliberately locate their stores in working-poor neighborhoods, and aggressively aim television, radio, and mail campaigns to consumers living in these areas. The bigger implication is that the lenders of these controversial personal loans intentionally market their products to people who can ill afford them – in the hope of collection more finance fees and interest charges when these hapless souls inevitably become delinquent or default on their obligations. National payday loan mouthpiece the Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA) has maintained for years that lenders are innocent of these charges.
It’s kind of hard to believe in the veracity of these protests, however, when you look at the fact that the nation’s largest payday loan merchant was hanging print advertisements in plastic bags off the doorknobs of housing units in Kalispell, Montana, in a complex intended for those transitioning from homelessness. On December 12th, residents of the Courtyard Apartments were solicited with brochures from Advance America Cash Advance, which distributes fast cash loans in Montana at interest rates of over five hundred percent annually.
When Advance America’s Kalispell office was contacted for comment on the story, the payday loan office directed local reporters towards the fast cash loan company’s national representative. Jamie Fulmer said that he could not comment on the cash advance personal loan advertising at the Courtyard Apartments. [/quote]