Payday industry news

A Fairfax County supervisor wants to push the next General Assembly for tighter restrictions on payday loans, charging that some lenders push the economically vulnerable deep into debt. The county attorney's office has ruled that local governments have no authority to regulate payday lending businesses, which operate under the state's Payday Loan Act. Supervisor Gerald W. Hyland (D-Mount Vernon) wants to make payday lending a part of the board's 2008 lobbying effort in Richmond. The board is scheduled to adopt its legislative program Dec. 3, finalizing the list of proposed state laws it will support or initiate.

Among the other measures under consideration is one that would strengthen the county's ability to eliminate residential overcrowding and other neighborhood code violations, increase nursing home staff training and amend current law to permit localities to make grants to nonprofit groups or other associations to beautify communities and prevent neighborhood deterioration. Payday lending involves customers borrowing, for a fee, modest amounts of cash against a future paycheck. Although barred in 11 states, it has become an enormous business in Virginia. In 2005, more than 445,000 Virginians took out nearly $1.2 billion in such loans, according to state figures.