you may need to re-examine your definition of legitimate

Yeah, who could have seen that coming?

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They're only doing their jobs.

spentmiles: slightly

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spentmiles: You're basically paying the same amount of interest as you would at a bank, just compressed into a smaller time frame.

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Jack Black 62: How is the bank doing that unless they are forcing them at gunpoint to take the loan?

What has a gun got to do with the bank's intent? It's predatory because they seek to exploit others. Whether those that they exploit get into that situation by force, will, or stupidity is irrelevant in terms of that definition.

Wolves don't force deer into their hunting territory, but you'd probably still call them predators when they kill the deer that happen along.

Jack Black 62: dustlesswalnut: Jack Black 62: How is the bank doing that unless they are forcing them at gunpoint to take the loan?

It doesn't say "forced exploitation" it just says "exploitation." They are exploiting the short-term financial difficulties of those of little means for great profit.

They knew what they wore getting into.

On the other hand, government DOES exploit and oppress people, but people never biatch about that..

Ya know, a lesser man would find it difficult to type after doing so much crack.

I used to work for a payday loan company. The fee for the money is based off of a one-time use. For instance, the charge to borrow $200 for two weeks is $44.00. If you take out the loan and pay it off when it is due and walk away, it is pretty good deal and can be very helpful in some situations. The problem arises when people pay it off and take it back out the same day...that is when over the course of a year, you end up paying almost four times the loan in interest.
What got me about the payday loan industry in the state where I worked was the collection practices. We weren't allowed to prosecute for a bad check if the check didn't clear or the person didn't pay, so we would have to show up at someone's house or job and call their family and boss and coworkers to collect. I was even told to go to someone's mother's house (knowing the customer didn't live there) to attempt to collect the debt.
In summation, when used as intended, payday loans can be a helpful. The predatory aspect was the collection practices.

This was twelve years ago and in Illinois.

Felgraf: I really, really think we need to bring back some of the laws against Usury.

Be nice. You know why they went away? Because in 1976 the Supreme Court made a seemingingly minor, but actually seismic, ruling. They ruled that when a bank and a borrower are in different states, the laws of the state the BANK was in applied and not the laws of the state the borrower was in.

The second that happened a carefully constructed web of consumer protection laws went straight to hell thanks to some greedy states. South Dakota basically went to all the credit card companies and promised to axe their usury laws altogether if the CC companies relocated to their state. This began a "race to the bottom" among a dozen states (Delaware basically won..no suprise the evil farkers) where the main loser was the consumer.

It is by the way, EXACTLY what would happen if the Republicans get their way on Health Care reform and insurance companies are allowed to "sell insurance across state lines"