No Credit Check Loans Ruffle the Feathers of the Christian Right in Arizona
I don’t like unhealthy credit. But over the years, I have come to realize that “no credit check loans” have their place under the sun. As always, I fully support the wise, responsible use of healthy consumer credit.
However, the growing “culture of debt” encourages us to cast caution to the wind and do so beyond “keeping up with the Joneses.” We’re supposed to want to leave them in the wake of our financed-to-the-hilt luxury speedboats.
But What Would Jesus Do? He’d sell bracelets, right? Then, using the post-charity profits, he might launch a campaign to shut down no credit check loans companies. Because they’re an obvious modern-day incarnation of Jewish temple moneychangers… right?
Arizona Daily Star reporter Stephanie Innes and the Arizona Ecumenical Council apparently believe that they are, but I emphatically disagree. Before I get to that, however, let’s get some background.
Proposition 200 and the Ecumenical Argument Against Bad Credit Payday Loans
Proposition 200, also known as the “Payday Loan Reform Act,” was designed to cut loan fees, establish flexible repayment plans, regulate Internet lending and reduce the number of storefront loans for people with bad credit in the state of Arizona.
However, the Arizona Ecumenical Council and opponents say it’s “deceptive.” They claim it would allow lenders to continue to do business in Arizona beyond their previously designated 2010 sunset year. Moreover, they would be allowed to maintain current interest rates, rather than being capped at 36 percent.
Yet it is apparent that the Ecumenicals’ main objection to payday loans with bad credit in Arizona is that the lenders “are banking on people not knowing the difference between a fair loan and a rip-off.” These lenders, according to the religious group, should be thrown out of the state, just like the moneychangers were ejected from the temple in Jesus’ time.
Hapless Arizonans, the “good folks who are struggling to survive and build stable lives for themselves,” are victims in the minds of the Ecumenical Council.
Innes goes so far as to say this:
“It’s kind of hard to say anything good about an industry that follows a philosophy of greed and feeding on the most vulnerable people in the community – those who receive regular paychecks but still can’t make ends meet.”
Biased Reporting and Scriptural Shenanigans Look to Build Their Case
To say that Innes presents this story in a slanted light is an understatement. Seriously, how unbiased does it sound when a reporter writes, “For the money changers’ side of the story, (look here)?”
At what point did running a business that earns a profit become ethically or morally wrong? An honest and profitable business is not the same as extortion.
According to the federal Truth in Lending Act of 1968, lenders are required to disclose all key terms of the lending arrangement, inclusive of all costs, and to disclose the annual percentage rate (APR). The APR is reflective of the entire cost of the consumer credit.
It is important to note that the payday loans for bad credit industry takes significant steps to inform consumers of not only the costs and terms of taking out a loan, but also encourages personal responsibility.
Lenders make it clear that their loans are intended for short-term use. They do not replace proper budgeting.
No Credit Check Loans Don’t Replace A Nice, Juicy Budget
Nobody is being taken advantage of here. When Jesus busted up the moneychangers’ operation, He did so because He took offense at the moneychangers’ extortion of profit.
Pilgrims exchanged their Greek and Roman money for Jewish and Tyrian money, which were the only coinage the temple accepted.
This is not equivalent to payday loans with no credit check. Consumers are being given money, with the expectation that it will be repaid later.
In addition to covering costs, a business has to collect some form of profit if they are to continue to exist. Lenders are no exception. Profit in this sense is not evil, but capitalist and American.
If we are to assume that money changing is evil, then forget about traveling to a foreign country for vacation.
Since the Euro is worth more than the dollar, are foreign banks and businesses that convert your money instruments of Satan if you aren’t getting the better of the exchange? Since the peso is worth less than the American dollar, are Tijuana tourists being exploited in a manner similar to their less legal migrant countrymen and women when they do business en El Norte? As you see, it’s all a ridiculous idea.
Stop Painting No Credit Payday Lenders with a Broad Brush
Even if some bad credit payday loans companies do play dirty pool, it’s categorically unfair to classify the entire industry as predatory. There are well-known organizations like the Community Financial Services Association of America who work in concert with established federal laws to promote responsible regulation of the industry.
In much the same way, not all Christians are morally upright citizens, but that doesn’t mean that it’s rational or fair to label all Christians as dishonest backsliders. There are always exceptions. People are people.
A Spoonful of Responsibility Makes the Medicine Go Down
Personal responsibility is the key to using any type of payday loans no credit check. Just like it says, it’s a personal choice. I believe in more choices; it means more freedom. It is supposed to be used as a matter of last resort.
After borrowing from your mother, and cousins and neighbors, and your children … and all of a sudden the car breaks down! Now what?
Your credit cards are maxed, and your credit scores are shot due to medical bills you incurred a few months ago.
Where else would you expect these responsible people to go, to get their cars fixed?
On the other hand, getting a cash advance to buy a new set of shiny custom wheels, so that you can impress your neighbor or your date … that’s an entirely different story.
I cannot make a judgment of ALL the lenders in the payday industry, because some of them would be bad eggs, while others are just as honorable eggs as your local fastfood franchise owner.
Although one can argue about the quality of the food most of them serve (e.g. French fries and soda).
Using the same type of improbable leap of logic the Arizona Ecumenical Council uses to compare these lenders with the ancient moneychangers, let’s bust Ronald McDonald, the Burger King, Jack, Wendy and all the usual suspects.
Why? Because the sugar in products like their sodas are more addictive than cocaine. That clown is worse than a drug dealer! And don’t be fooled when they switch to Splenda, either, as it has much in common with DDT, a synthetic pesticide. Let’s squash that bug right now.
Be Responsible and Make Good Decisions When Using Bad Credit Payday Loans
I don’t exactly remember, but I must have been in a fast food restaurant probably once in the past six months. In general, I avoid them for health reasons.
However, there are occasions when I don’t really have a choice about going, so I always try to make the healthiest selection I can.
In the same way, with no credit check loans, consumers have a choice.
Fast food restaurants will provide nutritional information on their food upon request, but the lending companies provide information without being asked. Lenders want customers to know the details about their product so that they can make their own informed decision.
Isn’t that responsibility?
Check Out: No Credit Check Loans for Responsible Consumers!