Given the increased scrutiny on payday, car title, and high-cost installment lenders, people are beginning to realize just how bad these products are for the great majority of people who use them.
Instead of a “quick bandaid fix for a one-time emergency,” the lenders put most of their customers in a worse financial situation. As an example, earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released research finding that for 1 in 5 car title loan borrowers, they will ultimately lose their car because of the loan.
A few days later, this headline appeared in Utah: Pleasant Grove woman dies in crash while fleeing repo man, police say. The article explains: “Ashleigh Holloway Best, 35, was estimated to be traveling at least 70 mph on a 35 mph road when she smashed into a tree about 12:20 a.m. at 682 N. 100 East. She had to be extricated from the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene, said Pleasant Grove Police Lt. Britt Smith.”
Why was she travelling this fast?
She was being pursued by a repo man, who was trying to repossess her car on behalf of TitleMax, a car title lender. According to a GoFundMe page set up to pay her funeral expenses, she and her family had just moved from Florida to Utah, hence they lacked money, and hence they probably took out a car title loan. There are allegations that the tow truck driver may have rammed her car at one point during the chase, and he was booked for manslaughter.
No word yet as to whether the family has hired a lawyer to sue TitleMax, but we can only hope.
And, this isn’t an isolated incident.
In England, a daughter turned on her father’s cell phone after he committed suicide. His phone quickly received over 1,000 text messages from payday lenders, making threats and trying to collect money from him (Payday loan firms drove Samantha's dad to suicide. But even death didn't stop them hounding him).
The CFPB is expected to release the draft version of new rules for payday, car title, and high cost installment loans next Thursday. If you’re opposed to payday lending, join the conversation and learn more at: #StopTheDebtTrap.