Quotations from Victims of Payday Lending
“God’s been good. But He has some more good than He has given me. I have four [payday lenders]. On a monthly basis I pay $350 worth of interest. That’s my car payment right there in interest. I am making two car payments, but I only have one car. In a way they are doing a favor for people, but in the long run it’s not a favor. You have to pay them to get your money back so you can pay somebody else. It’s not designed so you can get yourself together – it’s designed for you to come back to them [payday lenders].”
L. Smith
“Which payday lender did I use? I used five. I went because I was on disability and my check only comes at the end of the month. I told them I couldn’t pay every two weeks…I had to go to the other ones, and this is how I got hooked. I got arrangements with all of them. I owe about $1,000. It is a nightmare. I warn people if you don’t have to mess with them, please don’t. You can get hooked on them…so I warn, if you don’t have to, please don’t.”
B. Stewart Yon
“Different things were going on. My boss couldn’t make payroll, I was drawing unemployment, I had just purchased a house…the AC broke down. I had four [payday lenders] at a time. I owed $1,200. Now I owe $900. They are harassing my references, my friends about my debts. ‘Can you have T. Brown contact us? Can you have her to call?’ I am in a vicious cycle and I don’t see a way out.”
T. Brown
“In a neighborhood like ours, where you don’t have a bank within walking distance, you will see within a three-block radius four payday lenders. I’ve noticed the check cashers have turned over to payday lending because they get more regular business: you go in this Friday and borrow money, and then in two weeks you’re right back in again. I worry about the future of the community. And you already have a lot of people who never walk into a bank. What about the future, when banking is done [solely] online? You’ll see even more ‘unbanked’ people – the ones who don’t have a computer, don’t have a telephone.”
O. Rainey, Community Activist
Too Much Month at the End of the Paycheck: Payday Lending in North Carolina, by the Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina, The Center for Community Capitalism, Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, January 2001. Used with permission.
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