LETTERS

LOVING PAYDAY LOANS

G.W. Schulz's article "Every Day's a Payday" [1/25/06] failed to mention a few key facts.

Payday advance customers are not poor. Research shows them to be middle-income, educated, working families, more than half earning between $25,000 and $50,000 annually, 58 percent having attended college, and one in five having a bachelor's degree. And 100 percent have a bank relationship, because a personal checking account, along with a steady income, is required to get an advance.

The article calls upon mainstream financial institutions to offer alternatives to payday loans, but the reality is there has been much talk and little progress. One school of thought in academia asserts traditional financial institutions may have little incentive to offer alternatives, based on their significant and growing fee income.

Schulz's reference to millions in revenue being "pocketed" by a payday lender shows either a lack of business knowledge or disregard for the facts. The fact is, these short-term loans are expensive to originate. Payday lenders' "revenue" is simply the total amount of fees collected. From that, all operating expenses must be subtracted, such as employee payroll and benefits, rent, utilities, loan losses, etc.

Since banks and payday lenders offer different services, it is inaccurate to assume the physical presence or absence of one affects the other. A payday loan is a small, unsecured cash advance for people needing a little help between paydays. Consumer demand for this product was created because banks stopped making small, short-term signature loans — not because they moved out of low-income neighborhoods.

Millions of consumers choose payday advance as a convenient, less costly alternative to bounced-check and overdraft-protection fees, late-bill-payment penalties, or credit card late fees. And they find payday advances more desirable than asking family for money or pledging personal possessions for collateral-based loans. Customer satisfaction levels are in excess of 80 percent, and state regulators around the country confirm there are very few complaints.

Community Financial Services Association of America has worked with policymakers in 38 states, including California, to support responsible regulation that protects consumers and their access to credit. We believe Californians are best served when given a variety of options and trusted to make financial decisions based on what's best for their families.

Vicki Woodward

Senior Vice President

Community Financial Services Association of America

Alexandria, Va.

TREASON AS BABBLE

Regarding the impeachment issue ["The Case for Impeachment," 1/18/06], there is no issue except in the minds of all the losers who still reside in California and grasp at their liberal straws.

The majority of Americans are freedom-loving patriots who are sick and tired of the left-wing, anti-American, treasonous babble from the coasts.

2006 will be another great conservative year, great progress will be made in the Iraqi democracy efforts, Hamas will come to their senses, the freedom-loving peoples of Iran will cast out the IslamoFascist Mullahs, we will start building the numerous nuclear power plants we need to generate power and, through desalinization, to meet the water needs of LA and free up the flow of the Colorado.

Meanwhile, the Democrats will whine and whine and keep jamming their heads in the sand looking for issues to criticize Bush with.

Losers.

Robert Tulloch

Munith, Mich.

FOR THE RECORD

Due to an editing error, there was a misprint in last week's review of Odd by Nature: An Evening in Sean Owens' Shorts. The line should have read as follows: "This is a doubly apt title for an evening of short works by San Francisco playwright-actor Sean Owens, since it carries the homophonic connotation 'awed by nature.' "