By: Javi Calderon
Occupy Boise Protests Payday Loans
The Boise chapter of the Occupy movement has planned a week of action, with several events planned to bring awareness to their cause and motives.
Joined by the Idaho Community Action Network, the protestors will gather in front of a payday advance store in Boise to raise awareness for state payday lending laws that they believe sponsor a “cycle of debt.”
Idaho is among the most lenient states in the country in terms of payday loan regulations, and while critics admit that Idaho will probably never join the 17 states that have all but outlawed short-term loans, the Occupy Boise members believe that the local government should at least implement some sort of interest rate cap.
The Idaho Community Action Network, on the other hand, simply plans to ask the company to voluntarily lower the interest rates for military families, and limit the amount one individual can borrow in a single day to $300.
The only regulations on the books in Idaho are:
1. An aggregate limit of $1,000 for all outstanding loans; meaning that the most a borrower can owe at one time is $1,000. There is no limit for the number of loans.
2. Loans can only be rolled over three times. A borrower who is unable to pay their loan off during the agreed-upon loan length can rollover their loan into another pay period. Unfortunately, this comes with compounded interest and is typically where borrowers start falling behind.
According to ICAN, Idaho is the second most unregulated state in the country, behind only Utah.
Later this week, the Occupy Boise members plan to protest against the SOPA bill; hold what amounts to a ‘meet-and-greet’ in front of their encampment, in order to engage the public; answer questions and raise awareness for their cause; and hold a rally and march to protest actions of the courtsystem. They also plan to hand out “greed awards” to signal out local companiesthat they feel have abusive or selfish practices.
