Iowa City Must Act Now to Curb Predatory Lending

Iowa City Must Act Now to Curb Predatory Lending:

'via Blog this'Iowa City Press-Citizen 

March 27, 2012
Greenwood, Dick 

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement is urging the Iowa City Council to enact zoning restrictions on payday lenders to protect the community's most vulnerable residents, writes member Dick Greenwood in a guest editorial. The advocacy group is calling for strong and effective public oversight that will allow only one payday loan shop for every 20,000 local residents; require two miles between each location; and ban new stores from opening in neighborhood, retail, and pedestrian districts. Surrounding communities have already implemented similar zoning ordinances. The average annual percentage rate for a payday loan in the state can top 400 percent and 76 percent of the loans there go to borrowers who are rolling over their loans every two weeks, trapping them in a cycle of debt. Additionally, notes Greenwood, because so many payday lenders are set up as out-of-state corporations, "$36 million in payday loan profits flee the state of Iowa every year, draining our local communities of hard-earned wealth that should be circulating here in our cities and towns." Iowa CCI is urging the council to reject corporate greed and profits and embrace safeguards for local residents and communities.