Arizona Rallies Against Cash Advance Payday Loans

By: Javi Calderon
Operation Sunset Spells the End of Payday Loans in Arizona

An Arizona state law that used to allow high-interest loans expired as of June 30th, 2010. This law created a 10 year long loophole for Arizona’s cap on annual interest rates. Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard is spearheading an initiative to enforce the cap and end high interest payday loans. Operation Sunset, as the project is called, is staffed by lawyers, investigators and paralegals working to uncover and prosecute payday lenders who are still trying to operate illegally.

In 2008 Arizona residents voted down a proposition (known as Proposition 200) that would have allowed payday loan businesses to operate in the state permanently. Though voter results were conclusive, payday lenders continue to appeal the decision, and even lobbied for legislation that would have given them similar conditions as the unsuccessful proposition.

Some of these lenders were trapping customers in a cycle of payments with an interest rate equivalent to 350% per year! The catch was when the customer chose to roll over the loan into another pay cycle the lenders would tack on an extra 15% interest to the original loan. An extra 15% week after week quickly turns into an insurmountable mountain of debt.
Goddard believes that these loans are a scam designed to trap Arizona citizens in cycles of high interest rates loans. However, not all lenders are ruthless and self serving. In fact, reputable lenders can help you get your finances back on track.

How Responsible and Credible Payday Loans Can Help You

While the efforts of people like Terry Goddard and his Operation Sunset truly have the best interest of the consumers at heart, payday loans are not always money-hungry scams, and they are not always an enemy. In fact, reputable and responsible payday lenders can even help someone with bad credit repair their credit score! Some companies will not ask for the customer’s social security number, therefore the loan goes unreported to credit companies and is kept off the customer’s credit score. On the other hand, by using a service that does report to credit companies, someone can quickly rebuild a faulty credit score by making several consecutive, responsible, on-time payments.

What Operation Sunset fails to recognize is that a payday loan customer needs to be as responsible, if not more so, than the lender. By researching the lenders, disregarding those who seem sleazy and dishonest, and - most importantly - paying the loan back on time, a payday loan is a viable and safe method for someone who has found themselves in an unexpected bind. With careful budgeting and responsible payments someone can use payday loans to pay off over due accounts and thus re-establish credibility.

Really, the responsibility is in the hands of the customer, not the loan provider. It is your money and your life, after all. Do your homework, find a safe, reputable lender and make responsible, timely payments to get your finances back on track! For example, www.paydaycashadvanceloans.biz can work with you to design a payday loan that is right for you.