if you live near a military base and count on payday loans and pawn shops when cash is short you might soon be fucked…
…even if you’re not in the military.
there’s a “new law” on the books that will basically put every pawn shop, title loan, and payday loan place out of business if they’re near a military base. now don’t get me wrong – most of these places are pretty shitty. they charge interest rates that even the mafia thinks are outlandish and set you up for a huge fall if you don’t pay. it’s not like they break thumbs, but they might as well.
i used quotes on the word “new” because it was enacted years ago, but just went into effect today. it caps the interest you can charge military personnel or their dependents at 36%, or 3% per month. on the upside, 36% is pretty shitty as is. on the downside, it’s actually low for pawn, title, or payday loans. this law was enacted to help predatory lenders from praying on soldiers or their families when they need money by not allowing them to get gouged with high rates the rest of the world has to deal with if they seek out funds from said sources…
…which is where i think this is fucked.
most people that decide to pawn the lawnmower or risk losing the car they just paid off or agree to pay twice the money back next payday didn’t come to the decision lightly. most of them aren’t there because they’re too lazy to run to the bank and fill out a loan application – it’s because the bank said “no”. people don’t borrow money this way because they WANT to…they do because the have to. so if you’re in one of the ‘stan’s earning a bit of dough from uncle sam participating in some bullshit skirmish so haliburton shareholders can throw some more money on the piles of cash while you risk your ass for no fucking reason and your wife needs money ’cause the car broke down or the kid’s sick you now have yet one more concern in addition to bombs and bullets – unless your credit’s good. then you’re cool. but most of the wealthier folks and people with good credit aren’t in the military because at this point most of the folks in aren’t there because they wanna or because it’s patriotic or because they want to rid the world of evil – they’re their because they ran out of options and right, wrong, or indifferent the army pays more than taco bell.
i have a feeling this is gonna fuck a LOT of our military’s finances up.
and if you want to get a good deal on some pawn shop stuff head to the shops closest to your local army bases – something tells me you’ll see a “going out of business” banner or two up in the coming months.