Va. regulations chasing payday lenders away

Cruising down Broad Street between Virginia Commonwealth University and suburban Short Pump, you’ll see a string of businesses with names like Cash Advance, Cash-2-U and Fast Payday Loans. They’ll lend you money until your next paycheck – at interest rates critics call exorbitant. The 23230 Zip code has one of the highest concentrations of payday lending stores in Virginia, with almost one location for every 1,000 residents. The area is among the poorer sections of metro Richmond, with a median household income about $10,000 below the state average. Payday lenders offer short-term, high-interest loans to consumers using the borrower’s paycheck as collateral. Until last year, such businesses could charge $15 for a two-week $100 loan – amounting to a 391 percent annualized interest rate. The General Assembly capped the rate at 36 percent, making the fee for a two-week loan $1.38. So some payday ...