EKB News

KENTUCKY....
Consumer advocates testifying at a public hearing Wednesday in Lexington on deferred-deposit loans, said payday lenders suck Kentuckians into a cycle of debt that can be nearly impossible to break. Some compared the payday cycle to quicksand, saying
high fees, usually $15 for every $100 borrowed, mean that when the loan must be repaid in two weeks, borrowers come up short and have to borrow again and again,
and, as long as they have 400 percent interest rates, they can't get out. Some called it an unjust form of oppression and enslavement. Advocates are pushing again for a cap on interest in the next legislative session. Nicole Biddle of the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions said that through September, payday lenders reaped more than $80 million in service fees on $486 million in loans. Many of the loans were to repeat customers.