Bloodsuckers bloodied
The state Supreme Court dealt the payday lending industry another defeat today, though it's still on a narrow bonding issue. The mother of all slapdowns on this gang of usurers is still someday in the future.
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, whose constitutional duty it is to defend the state board that oversees the laughably unconstitutional scheme a payday-lenders-oiled legislature approved, offers this comment on the decision today:
This case, and the McGhee case handed down on the 17th, potentially sound the death knell for this industry. Jim DePriest and I met today and are considering our immediate options. I told the D-G today that we see this as devastating to the licensed payday lenders. We also think that bonding companies will flee the market. The Board decided two years ago that the conduct of the defendants in these cases did not invoke the bond protections. This office was required to represent the Board in the appeal, but essentially abdicated our time last Thursday to the bond company’s lawyer. As the Board’s lawyers, we will always defend their actions. As a consumer advocate, I see these decisions as giving us new wind in our sails.
Comments
The Arkansas Supreme Court finally seems poised to issue a definitive ruling on whether it's unconstitutional to allow payday leeches to charge triple-digit interest rates, as the now-infamous Check Cashers Act of 1999 prescribes.
The Arkansas Constitution plainly caps interest rates on consumer loans at 17 percent a year, but nine years ago the Arkansas General Assembly essentially spat on the Constitution and paved the way for these loan sharks to legitimately set up shop in the Natural State.
There was, unfortunately, plenty of bipartisan acquiescence--then-Governor Mike Huckabee signed this travesty into law and then-Attorney General Mark Pryor didn't lift a finger to fight it.
Hopefully the days of Arkansas consumers getting gouged by these loan sharks are numbered.
"There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come"--Victor Hugo, 19th century French poet and author
Posted by: muckraker![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/nav-commenters.gif)
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February 21, 2008 05:02 PM
Hey Max, I can't get the State Supreme Court decision to load. Blank page.
Thanks muckraker for reminding us of Pryor's ignoble stance.
ARK. BLOG: Works for me. It's a PDF. Takes a second to load.
Posted by: eLwood![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/nav-commenters.gif)
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February 21, 2008 05:12 PM
Thanks...Dustin....
It is mighty fine of you to take on the big Pay Day Lenders lobby and save the day for the poor little people who can't manage their money or are too stupid to get involved in these schemes...
He is holding true on his "family values" campaign promises...
Posted by: Catfish Eater![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/nav-commenters.gif)
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February 22, 2008 02:06 AM