Payday loans are short-term loans that are quite easy to get as long as you can show the lender your pay stub and issue a postdated check, usually dated a month after the date the loan is released. A credit check is not even required in order to get approval.
Payday loans are attractive emergency solutions for a temporary cash crunch, but they can be risky especially to inexperienced borrowers or those with little control over their cash flow. Fees that may seem low and affordable can swell into a big amount in a matter of months. Some loans have an APR that can go from 300% to as high as 600%!
Payday loans aren’t totally bad, but they can easily get out of control. On hone hand they do provide a temporary solution, but on the other hand there are high risks involved and at times, the risks can outweigh the benefits.
Here are seven tips about why you should think twice about getting a payday loan:
1. What the borrower receives is actually lower than the amount that’s written on his check. The lender will deduct a finance charge from the loan amount as his profit, usually $15 to $50 per $100 during the agreed-upon loan term. Sometimes the borrower writes a check with the loan amount plus fees. If the borrower cannot comply, he will have to pay more finance charges.
2. The borrower might not have enough funds in his account to cover the check he issued. When the loan is due and the borrower cannot pay, the lender usually encourages him to ‘roll’ or renew the loan. He will now shoulder a new loan with an additional finance charge and late fees, resulting to a bigger loan amount. The borrower may even end up using loaned money to pay the high fees.
3. There are state regulations that cover payday loans, setting the loan term limit at 30 days, but lenders avoid this by issuing loans that are no less than 31 days. Therefore, the borrower is still at the lender’s mercy.
4. Payday loans are supposed to be turned to only when there is an emergency need for cash which means that a borrower should be able to pay it back immediately, but this is often not the case. Because it would seem convenient and cheap in the beginning, borrowers are tempted to allow their loans to ‘roll over’. The result is a loan amount that might continue to balloon unless the borrower has enough cash to pay it off at once.
5. Payday loans are risky because they are designed to be accessible to low-income borrowers who would otherwise not be approved for other loans. Lenders do not take into account that people who already have cash flow problems might have even more trouble paying the loan back
6. Some payday loan sites are known to automatically ‘roll over’ a loan and then just withdraw the renewal fee on the due date. There are also some sites that require borrowers to agree to a contract not to file for bankruptcy or join class action suits against the lender. The borrower, in effect, protects the lender.
7. The borrower can get used to payday loans when they are supposed to be his last option -- when there is nothing else that can be tapped for money source. Because of their availability and easy approval, payday loans can be very difficult to resist.
If you do feel you need to make a loan against your pay, make sure you are well informed and aware of the potential risks. If you can, get the lowest possible rate and discuss all the fees covered by the loan so you know exactly how much you are going to get and how much you are going to pay and when.
If you are already in some trouble due to payday loans, seek the help of certain organizations that offer free or low-cost assistance in helping negotiate and reduce interest charges and lower your monthly payments. Try to improve also your budget-handling skills in order to minimize or eradicate altogether the need to turn to loans to cover some expenses.
Payday loans are quite attractive short-term solutions to immediate money problems, but if you aren’t careful, it can turn into a long term liability that will let you sink deeper into a vicious debt cycle. The only way to lower the risk of a payday loan is to ensure that you have enough funds to cover it when the pay date comes and to pay responsibly and on time, just like you do with every other loan.
Pat Caymus writes about financial related topics such as Payday Loans and other consumer related financial topics designed to inform people about payday loans and other kinds of loans.
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