Idaho Payday Loans by the Numbers

Idaho Payday Loans by the Numbers 

Much has been made about how lax many state payday loan regulations are west of the Mississippi. While critics like to portray abhorrent practices and mass outcry, the numbers simply don’t support these claims, despite the lax regulations. 

From 2003 through 2010, Idaho payday lenders paid out $159 million, $180 million, $170 million, $175 million, $125 million, $190 million and $185 million in cash advance loans. For a state the size of Idaho, with a mere $1.5 million people, these numbers are astronomical. 

Yet, consumer complains regarding payday loans are almost nonexistent. In 2003 only 5 complaints were filed. In 2004, 16. 2005, 21;  2006, 44; 2007, 11; 2007, 14; 2009, 24; 2010, 17; and in 2011, 38 complains. In 2010, the last year where both sets of numbers were tabulated, Idaho lenders paid out $185 million in payday advance loans, and only received 38 complaints. Yes, $185 million to only 38 complaints. Those numbers would suggest that the vast majority of customers are very satisfied with their loans, and only a rare and unfortunate few run into trouble. 

In neighboring Montana, officials have actually received more complaints about short-term loans since they enacted a 36% interest rate cap that was intended to protect consumers from abusive lenders. So far, 17 states across the country have adopted this 36% cap. In all of these states, the cap does not leave lenders enough room to operate, providing little more than a dollar in profit. Unable to pay rent, employee salaries and other expenses, have shut down their shops and left towns, leaving poor and under-banked customers with no where else to turn for help.  

At the moment, the only payday loan related law on the Idaho books is a $1,000 per loan limit that was enacted in 2003.