The Foreclosure Report

Payday Loans In Surprising Neighborhoods

The Denver Post reports ona new trend in payday lending. "This Advance America Cash Advance store is in a suburban shopping center, next to a dealer of high-priced artwork and two doors from a yoga center. And it is surrounded by households with median annual incomes of $71,295, about 50 percent above the state median."

"The industry has exploded over the past decade by targeting the working poor who live paycheck to paycheck, but in recent years, companies have set their sights on higher-income borrowers."

"The number of payday-loan stores in Colorado has surged from 186 in 2000 to more than 550 today. Thirteen are in communities where the annual household median income surpasses $70,000. Ten of the 13 have opened in the past two years."

"'These loans really help when you need some extra cash,' said Highlands Ranch resident Carol Hill, 56. She first took out a payday loan three years ago when her taxable household income was about $78,000, to help pay income taxes."

"Seventeen percent of the industry's customers have annual household incomes of more than $50,000, and 20 percent have at least a bachelor's degree. Lauren Pursur, an assistant manager at Loan Depot in Castle Rock, said the income level of her customers is wide-ranging and somewhat surprising."

"One couple that has taken out loans from the store makes $17,000 a month, or $204,000 a year. 'It's from the CEOs of companies down to restaurant people,' Pursur said. 'It goes from one realm to the next.'"

"Krista Kibel, a customer of the store in Littleton, said she took out a $500 loan in March before leaving for a one-week vacation to Arizona. 'I don't manage my money well,' said Kibel, 25, a graphics designer who makes $36,000 annually. 'I was going on vacation and wanted to pay my bills before I left.'"

posted by Ben Jones @ 3:22 PM