Brother, can you spare a dime with 735% interest?

After reading
an article in one of the local papers about those wonderful folks who run payday/title loan shops not just in Portland, Or but in other cities, I felt that they deserved to be listed as a possible moonbat candidate.

Before you say 'decrying any business that provides a service is un-American', that is not why I mention these folks. Now while they have stepped into the void in some locations to take the place of banks and other financial institutions that had left and vacated some communities (in some cases the poor and minority communities), they have a reputation of going charging fees that would make any self respecting member of the Mafia blush. For example, the figure mentioned in the title of this piece is the maximum, daily, compounded interest that is allowed for under Oregon law. That is not a mistake, it is the actual number. I do not know about you but if I wanted to get a loan that would be on the high side but still 'affordable'; I could always go to my bookie, "52nd Street Irwin" and get it from him. Then again the only penalty I would get from him is that he would threaten to break my legs if I did not pay back the loan.

However in all seriousness, if one looks at the advertisements for these firms, they almost have the same 'quick fix' mentality implied much like the same busineses that crop up in the above mentioned communities (like the fast food joints -- and no I am not going to go after those businesses either; after all they are like others trying to make a profit. They do not force anyone to walk in and eat a burger or deep fried potatoes). The rub in this is that, people should know what they are getting into when they sign on for these and it is not the companies fault that they have such high interest rates. At least that is what one person I knew a while back who has a sizeable investment in the holding company of one of these firms had mentioned a few years back. On the other side of the coin, some of these shops shouyld be a little more honest as far as how they operate and what they REALLY CHARGE IN INTEREST. We ask honesty out of other firms: car dealers, doctors, pharmacists, the big and tall shops, so why should these folks be any different?