Public indecency, payday lenders and lower speed limits in areas where wildlife cross roads are a few of the 110 new laws that go into effect Wednesday.

One of the biggest new laws is an increase in the state’s renewable-energy standard to 30 percent for large public utilities, such as Xcel Energy.

Currently, power companies are required to get 20 percent of their electricity from such renewable sources as wind and solar by 2020, but the larger producers said they were likely to hit that mark far sooner than initially thought.

As a result, Gov. Bill Ritter and some Western Slope senators introduced House Bill 1001, which primarily emphasizes solar, and lawmakers said it will lead to the installation of about 100,000 new solar rooftops during the next 10 years.

“These are high paying jobs that will stimulate economic activity in our local communities and can’t be shipped overseas,” said Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village, who introduced the bill with Sen. Bruce Whitehead, D-Hesperus. “This change will bring jobs in wind, solar, biomass, natural gas, hydro and geothermal to our state.”

The standard was first created under Amendment 37, which voters approved in 2004. Three years later, the Legislature increased the standard to 20 percent by 2020 for power suppliers, and included a new 10 percent standard for rural electric cooperatives.

Republican lawmakers said the increase was an unnecessary mandate on business, but Xcel officials supported it.

Republicans also protested another controversial new law that narrowly won legislative approval. Under HB 1351, payday-loan companies will be limited to charging a monthly maintenance fee of no more than $7.50 for every $300 loaned, capped at $30 a month. The measure also limits the companies from offering new loans to customers for 30 days.

Currently, payday lenders are allowed to impose finance charges anywhere from 300 percent to 500 percent measured as an annual percentage rate. The new law limits that to 45 percent. The companies are limited to lending no more than $500 in loans, which are designed to be paid off within a few weeks.

“We want to protect hard-working families from predatory lenders who trap borrowers into a vicious cycle of debt where they face 300 percent interest rates,” said Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver. “That’s wrong. Any responsible lender would be satisfied with a 45 percent APR cap.”

Meanwhile, a couple of Western Slope lawmakers were pleased to see their measures become law.

Rep. Kathleen Curry, unaffiliated-Gunnison, will see HB 1238 cut down on the amount of roadkill and save motorists’ lives.

Under the new law, the Colorado Department of Transportation is allowed to lower speed limits in certain parts of the state where animal crossings are common, but it’s limited to designating wildlife crossing zones to no more than 100 total miles of highway.

The new law, which doesn’t include interstates or county roads, call on CDOT to clearly mark when the new zones begin and end. Fines for speeding also would be doubled in the zones.

Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, will see two of his measures become law this week.

HB 1054 requires the state’s colleges and universities to establish procedures to deal with emergency situations, such as a campus shooting, and to ensure students know what to do in case such an emergency happens.

The other new law, HB 1334, moves the crime of public masturbation from the state’s public-indecency statutes to the more serious public-exposure laws. At the same time, it moves such nonsexual acts as urinating in public or streaking from the exposure statutes and puts them under indecency crimes.

King said current law has caused some people to be categorized as sexual offenders when they just did something stupid, and actual sexual offenders were getting slaps on the wrist.

“It seems appropriate to me to be able to free up resources for law enforcement and their focus to be out there looking for the true sexual predators, and not people (who) through intoxication or just bad judgment end up urinating in public and end up on a sex-offender registry,” King said. “Nine out of 10 people are going to say, ‘That’s not a sex crime. That’s just being stupid in public.’”

The new financial regulatory overhaul will have a sweeping effect on banks, credit unions, retailers and even stock brokers. CoStar Group interviewed several analysts to get their takes on whether it will benefit or hurt the Washington commercial real estate market:

“While it is early and we are still dissecting the bill, we expect to see growth within several agencies. The Federal Reserve is creating an entirely new entity, the Consumer Finance Protection Agency (CFPA), charged with protecting individual investors’ interests. They’ll regulate home loans, credit card fees, payday loans and other forms of consumer finance. This new agency initially requires 50,000 square feet, but that could grow to over 180,000 square feet in the next few years.

“Also look for the Department of Treasury, Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to have increased responsibilities and power, which could lead to real estate growth — but more will be revealed as we move forward.

“Moving forward we will also monitor how the government resolves the issue of derivatives investing, as this could directly impact several broad sectors of the U.S. economy and federal agencies affected by oil, energy and agriculture commodities — and thus lead to more real estate needs.”

– Joseph Brennan, managing director, Government Investor Services Group, Jones Lang LaSalle, Washington, D.C.

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“Due to the number of jobs that the legislation creates, I expect the legislation to be positive for the Washington area commercial real estate market. The number I heard is that 2,400 jobs will be created. That should translate into the need for a significant amount of office space and hopefully some assistance in lowering the vacancy rates in the D.C. area.”
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– Gary Edell, director of leasing of Penrose Real Estate Services, Vienna

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“The most critical aspect of the new regulatory bill is the uncertainty behind the new rules that have yet to be determined and the impact on liquidity in the secondary markets. The regulations and reform will change the life of yesteryear for sponsors, bond purchasers and derivate traders, which will therefore impact liquidity… “There are billions of dollars in loans which were originated in 2001 and 2006 maturing in 2011, the uncertainty behind the new reform and what it will ultimately look like and the corresponding illiquidity issues it may pose will create buying opportunities for some and pain for other commercial real estate owners in the D.C. market … but it will not be as bad as some of the secondary or tertiary markets.

– Ari Firoozabadi, vice president investments and director of the National Multi Housing Group, Marcus & Millichap in Bethesda

“I don’t think the signing of the … reform bill into law will have a material impact on the Washington metro commercial real estate markets.

“The bill promotes sound underwriting practices, which is good. This is based on the requirement, as it relates to debt securitization, that banks retain at least 5 percent of the loan’s risk on their books unless the loans meet certain standards for reducing risks. The passage of the bill should bring some certainty to Wall Street and regulatory questions.

“People want loan and property level data for greater transparency and risk assessment and that is a good thing!”

– Eric Schwartz, director andchief appraiser of the Real Estate Services Unit of CapitalSource Bank in Chevy Chase

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“None of us are experts in connection with the regulatory reform legislation … All I know is anything that constrains the creation of further liquidity in financial markets isn’t good for the well-being of the economy, whether it be lending for commercial real estate markets, business loans, home loans or anything else that contributes to “width and breadth” of the lending markets.

“Simply a rollback to the regulatory standards that existed prior to Wall Street being able to play with the house’s money would have been best. That would have been the simplest approach.

“As you know, the 800-pound gorilla in the room when it comes to the economy is the need for further liquidity in the financial markets that in turn improves lending terms and availability of financing; virtually all else are simply band-aid short-term fixes for a much bigger problem.”

– Jonathan J. Feucht, a principal with Rim Pacific Management in Reston

Strapped Nevadans once again are turning to their local pawnshop rather than a payday lender for an infusion of ready cash.

As payday-lending institutions cropped up throughout the state over the past decade, they siphoned off a great deal of business from northern Nevada pawnbrokers, pawnshop owners say. But regional pawnshops once again are seeing an upturn in pawn transactions — mostly because unemployed borrowers lack the means to get loans at paycheck advance businesses.

Dion Draper, partner for the past three years at Premier Pawnbrokers in Fallon, says many Fallon-area residents have exhausted their options at the town’s paycheck advance stores and have come in to his establishment to pawn their hard goods. They like the idea of pawning, he says, because there is no threat of legal action if they default on a loan.

“If they walk away from a loan, they simply walk away,” Draper says. Though business has spiked at Premier Pawnbrokers, Draper says he’s also seen a higher default rate and retail sales have lagged.

Dan McCassie, owner of Main Street Pawn in Fernley, says the town’s three payday lenders once drew off some of his clientele, but residents returned to his store to pawn items as the recession deepened in recent years in Lyon County.

Many people, McCassie says, already had borrowed money at Fernley’s three payday lenders and found themselves buried under interest rates that sometimes are higher than 500 percent on an annualized basis.

“They can only afford to do that so long before it completely breaks the bank,” McCassie says. “It is easy for them to write a check and get money, but it is so hard for them to pay the loan off.

“Some people no longer can get a cash advance,” he adds. “They have gotten one at all three places, and they are left with no choice but to pawn their hard goods.”

But pawnbrokers are getting more selective on items for which they’ll loan money. McCassie says electronics more than one year old are out, and jewelry and guns are the most-pawned items among Fernley residents. “Guns and gold are always safe loans,” McCassie says.

Bill Burnbaugh, 62, owner of Capitol City Loans at 5951 Highway 50 East in Carson City, has seen a dramatic dip in clientele seeking auto pawn loans since payday lenders entered the cash advance market.

Burnbaugh says the number of auto loans written at Capitol City has declined by 80 percent in recent years as the cash-needy turned to loans at payday lenders since they don’t have to put up any collateral.

Burnbaugh has been in business in Carson City since 1977 and has moved four times for bigger operating space. He’s currently in a 20,000 square foot building on 1.5 acres.

Erminia Drobkin is the Nevada state representative for the National Pawnbrokers Association and owns Pioneer Loan and Jewelry in Las Vegas, the oldest pawnshop in Las Vegas — it was founded in 1931. She says the average pawn transaction in the state is about the same as what a payday lender would give, but payday lenders remain a popular alternative to pawn shops because customers don’t have to part with their valuables.

Payday loans were legalized in Nevada in 1997, and Nevada is one of the few states in the country that doesn’t cap fees or interest rates. In 2007 Nevada lawmakers tried to curb some of the business practices of unscrupulous payday lenders, which charge interest rates as high as 300 to 500 percent a year. Loan limits now are capped at 25 percent of a borrower’s expected monthly income.

In 2007 there were more than 1,200 people directly employed at nearly 400 payday lending institutions in the state, a study by IHS Global Insight of Lexington, Mass. found. The industry generated nearly $42 million in tax revenues for Nevada.

Drobkin says most people in the state who pawn jewelry usually pay off their loans because of a sentimental attachment to the piece — and because they can re-pawn it later if necessary.

Pawnbrokers also say they have seen an increase in foot traffic at their stores due to the hit television show “Pawn Stars” on the History Channel. The reality show chronicles the daily ebb and flow of business at a busy Las Vegas pawnshop — and has gone a long way to remove the image of seediness and desperation that has plagued the industry.

“We have become more popular because of ‘Pawn Stars,’” McCassie admits. “At first I thought it was kind of goofy, but it really promoted and pushed the pawn industry.”

Adds Burnbaugh: “Some people turn their nose down at pawnbrokers, but pawnshops have changed dramatically.”

Drobkin says pawnbrokers throughout the U.S. are enjoying a rise in business from the exposure the show has brought the industry.

“It gives people an idea of what they can pawn or sell and where to go to borrow money,” she says.

http://www.nnbw.com/ArticleRead.aspx?storyID=15710

Carson City, NV – The Office of the Attorney General is warning consumers of a payday loan collection scam currently occurring in Nevada.

Nevada citizens are receiving telephone calls from persons claiming to be from the “Federal Government of Crime and Prevention,” “Affidavit Consolidation Services,” “Criminal Bureau of Identity,” “US Justice Department/Payday Loan Division,” “Federal Investigation Bureau,” and other fake governmental names.

The caller claims that a debt is owed on a payday loan such as “Advance Cash USA” and other fake companies. The callers pose as lawyers, law enforcement officers, investigators or Federal agents. They refuse to disclose their real names and addresses, claiming that such information is “confidential.”

They use scare tactics such as claiming they are filing a lawsuit or will take action to put the called party in jail. They sometimes call people at their place of employment.

This operation is a scam, probably operating outside of the United States. One consistent pattern the perpetrators follow is frequently changing telephone numbers and using various area codes, which is indicative of internet telephone number usage from outside the country.

If you receive such a call, simply hang up. If they call again, hang up again.

Regardless of what information they may give you over the telephone, this is a scam and the caller is just trying to scare you into wiring money to them which you do not owe.

The recently passed financial reform law could mean a few changes for payday and car title loan businesses that in states like Texas have not previously been subject to the same regulations as other lenders.

And while the exact rules are far from concrete, opponents of payday lenders say any additional oversight on what they describe as high-interest, often predatory loans will be a plus. From there, some say, Texas lawmakers need to be the ones stepping up to protect consumers.

Proponents of short-term loan options say they’re not opposed to reasonable rules, but that they don’t want to be regulated to the point they can no longer offer a financing option that, while not traditional, is in high demand.

“It’s a legitimate industry … it’s one that provides a needed service to thousands of Texas consumers who would have no other place to go for financial products and services,” said spokeswoman for industry interest group Consumer Service Alliance of Texas Julie Hillrichs.

Such loan centers — which in Texas aren’t subject to standards of other lenders because they operate as credit service organizations — will eventually be regulated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The oversight organization was created as part of the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation and still is awaiting the appointment of an agency head as well as additional parameters of what precisely it will enforce in each industry.

“There’s still a lot that needs to be flushed out,” said Ann Baddour, senior policy analyst with Texas Appleseed, which is a public interest law center. “They’re going to issue regulations defining the terms, there’s a lot that’s going to have to happen before the bureau is up in running.”

Ultimately, she said, while federal regulation will help, the state should be the one taking the lead in regulating the industry that she said charges interest rates as high as 500 APR.

“We have problems we as a state can do something about,” Baddour said.

Spokesman for the Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA) Steven Schlein said they hope regulations will be similar to the CFSA’s best practices agreements, which includes things such as limiting rollovers and a commitment to transparency in loans. The CFSA works to preserve consumer access to short-term credit options.

“Our industry has always supported consumer regulation, not arbitrated rate caps,” Schlein said.

States like Arizona that have enacted rate caps on payday lending type businesses, he said, have driven out much of the industry since rules were enforced, which leaves few options for consumers who need short-term financing and don’t necessarily have access to more traditional loans.

Some Texas legislators pushed for similar rate restrictions in 2009. A bill filed by state Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, as well as Senate bills filed by Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, worked to limit the ability of credit service organizations to offer loans through car titles, post-dated checks or an authorization to debt by essentially fixing the regulation loophole tunder which they now operate. An interest rate cap of 36 percent also was proposed in some of the bills that failed.

The federal government already imposes a 36 percent interest rate max on short-term lenders when dealing with military families. Advocates argue the same standard would be a fair way of allowing short-term lenders to continue operating without putting consumers at risk.

Such issues could come up in the Legislature again.

“There are several interested groups and individuals looking to propose a bill to address payday loan lenders, also known as credit service organizations. During the upcoming legislative session, I believe that the Texas Legislature will have the opportunity to consider legislation addressing this issue similar to the bill I filed in 2009,” Craddick said in a statement.

Hillrichs said they look forward to working with lawmakers.

“The industry has said from the very beginning that we are not opposed to reasonable legislation and regulations,” she said.

Baddour, who spoke to a group of payday lending opponents in Midland last year, said short-term loans typically are utilized by single moms and low income families, who unfortunately get caught in a cycle of high payments because most can’t repay the full amount of their loan within the typical two-week period.

The average borrower, she said, ends up paying $840 for a $300 loan. With most requiring only an ID and a car title to grant loans, Baddour said until rules are added, they’ve been working to educate people on the financial implications of taking out such a loan.

If short-term lenders went out of business, though, Schlein said, the people they lend to would be bouncing checks and missing payments for other bills.

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

July 19, 2010

Many consumers and consumer advocacy groups hailed last week’s final passage of the financial reform bill, even though it wasn’t as strong as some would have liked.

Taking a completely different view, however, is the payday loan industry, which for the first time will fall under federal regulation. One company, Pay1Day.com, says it and its employees are worried that the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), created under the new law, will put them out of business.

Why? Because the political backers of the new agency have vowed to put caps on interest rates for short-term loans. This new federal oversight also comes at a time when various states are cracking down, the company complained in a press release.

“For example, the State of Arizona recently banned payday loans, which forced many payday lenders, like Solomon Finance, out of the state,” Pay1Day.com said in the release.

The company says banning payday loans and having to shut down business resulted in thousands of citizens losing their jobs in the state.

The company quotes Gabe Rodriguez, who it identifies as “an author for a website that writes about payday loans,” as saying “States that have allowed regulated payday lending have very few complaints against our industry.”

But there are indeed many, many complaints about payday lenders.

“I have paid these people so much money you would not believe,” Sandra, of Fuquay Varina, N.C., wrote in a complaint about OneClickCash.com to ConsumerAffairs.com. “I think a law should be made to do away with these companies.”

Monique, of Chicago, learned just how easy — and expensive — it can be to fall behind when she took out a loan from a PLS Payday Loan Store.

“I took out a loan for $900 and made two or three payments on it of $227,” she told ConsumerAffairs.com. “The following payment I was unable to make so I went into the store to see what can be worked out. My options were not good. I was given the option of paying the difference and refinancing the loan for a larger amount and losing what I have paid already or paying it all off at a lump sum of $1,200 or let them take me too collections.”

400 percent

When a consumer takes out a payday loan, typically for a small amount of cash, he is charged a fee that can amount to 400 percent or more. The loan must be paid back within a two-week period. The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), one of the biggest opponents of payday lending, calls it legal loan sharking.

“Payday loans are marketed as a way to put quick cash into your hands when you have a budget shortfall, but the business is designed so that borrowers can’t easily pay off their loans and walk away,” the group says on its website. “The average borrower has nine repeat loans per year, and at $50 each time for a loan of $300, that means they’re paying more in interest than what they borrowed.”

But Pay1Day.com complains that the new financial reform law is not addressing the root causes of what led the U.S. economy to collapse in 2008.

“It was well documented and evident that subprime mortgages, the major wall street banks irresponsible lending, and the greed of CEOs and CFOs of those banks and financial institutions were the causes for the deep recession of 2008,” the company says.

Read more:http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/07/payday_loans_finreg.html#ixzz0uR8PR9qT

Linda Doell

July 22nd

A Nevada company that used interactive websites to make payday loans has agreed to refund West Virginia consumers a total of $305,446 to settle a lawsuit brought by the state attorney general‘s office.

Payday loans typically charge high interest rates for short-term loans — rates that can add up to 600% to 800% in annual percentage rate. A borrower who can’t repay the payday loan and interest quickly digs a financial hole when then loan is renewed, which combines the original loan and interest with even more interest payments. The nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending estimates payday loans cost U.S. consumers $3.4 billion each year.

In West Virginia, payday loans are illegal and FFD Cos. agreed — while denying any wrongdoing — to refund 576 consumers for fees and interest for payday loans made over the Internet. The settlement closes a lawsuit brought by the state in November.

“Payday loans are not solutions but treacherous traps that can lead to financial ruin for the many West Virginians facing difficult financial circumstances,” state Attorney General Darrell McGraw said in a statement.

The settlement involves eight corporations under FFD, with offices in Delaware, Georgia, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas and Utah. Included are FFD Ventures; DFD Ventures; First Fidelity Inc.; FFD Resources, doing business as Cash Supply; FFD Resources II as Web Payday; FFD Resources III as Payday Services; FFD Resources IV as Payday Yes and Paper Check Payday; and Great American Credit Management.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission describes payday loans as very expensive credit. Federal law requires payday lenders to disclose the loan’s cost including the finance charge and annual percentage rate before consumers sign for loans. The FTC recommends consumers look at other types of financing before turning to a payday loan, including:

• A small, short-term from a credit union, small loan company or banks. A community organization may also make small business loans. Shop around for the best interest rate before settling on a loan offer.
• A cash advance on a credit card. While this option may carry a higher interest rate than other cash sources, it still may have lower rates and costs than a payday loan.

Link: http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/07/22/payday-loan-company-to-refund-w-va-consumers/

Posted – 7/9/2010 at 6:42PM

PHOENIX – Attorney General Terry Goddard Friday responded to a press announcement by Advance America, the leading payday loan company in the state, that it will be closing its Arizona operations, saying that the departure “shows the repeal law is working.”

Goddard emphasized, however, that businesses that offer legitimate loans on commercially reasonable terms are welcome in Arizona and should be encouraged. “I hope that entrepreneurs and employees of the payday loan businesses will now set their sights on lawful loan products and business practices,” Goddard said.

“But Advance America made millions in Arizona off of a business model that preyed on vulnerable borrowers and charged them unconscionable interest rates and fees,” Goddard continued. “They could have amended their business practices like other companies and charged lawful rates, but they chose to fold their tent here. That’s just what Arizona voters hoped would happen when they rejected this industry at the polls.”

Before the payday loan statute expired, Goddard announced the formation of “Operation Sunset” to aggressively pursue payday lenders who attempt to skirt the ban on payday loans. As part of that initiative, Goddard sent Arizona payday loan companies, including Advance America, a letter in June informing them that he intends to enforce the ban and prosecute any attempts to evade the law.

“My message to the loan industry is clear,” Goddard summarized.

“If you offer consumer loans on fair and commercially reasonable terms, Arizona is wide open for your business. But if you break our laws against charging consumers exorbitant interest and unfair fees, you are not welcome here.”

BLOG POST BY Jason Pulliam

DesMoinesRegister.com

The activist organization Citizens for Community Improvement will call for tough new rules that aim to drive down the number of payday lenders in Des Moines.

CCI members will be on hand at public forums hosted today and on Aug. 5 to discuss new regulations under consideration for Des Moines pawn shops and payday lenders.

The city’s Plan and Zoning Commission will host the forums, set for a 5:30 p.m. start in the City Hall council chambers, 400 Robert D. Ray Drive.

Chris Neubert, an organizer for CCI, said today the group will urge city leaders to enact “a strong density ordinance that addresses payday lending.”

Specifically, “an ordinance that caps the number of payday lenders that can operate in Des Moines at one for every 20,000 residents.”

“We feel that this will effectively put an end to the growth of the payday loan industry in Des Moines,” Neubert said in an email to The Des Moines Register.

“CCI members believe that the payday lending business model is one based on instantly creating repeat customers by trapping borrowers in cycles of debt,” he continued. ” Payday lenders prey on desperation, and their debt cycles hold a borrower’s paycheck hostage and drain communities of much needed wealth.”

In mid-May, the City Council enacted a 180-day moratorium on new pawn shops and payday lenders amid growing concerns about their proliferation in Des Moines. City leaders are examining long-term zoning changes that could require separation distances between the businesses and cap interest rates for loans made by pawn shops.

City zoning already restricts where bars, liquor stores and pornography shops can be located, for instance.

Language in the Iowa code also appears to give municipalities the ability to regulate interest rates on loans given by pawn shops, city officials said.

There are an estimated 14 pawn shops and 31 payday lenders in Des Moines, city officials report.