Nebraska Payday Loans, Still A Real Alternative For Cash Fast

The people of Nebraska enjoy a quality of life that is enviable for some, but even with this quality of life there are challenges that have to be faced just as anywhere else. Often time the challenge is a financial one and due to the economic constraints that have come to many, some require some financial assistance to help them through a difficult spot. Nebraska Payday Loans are an important part of the American experience now because the need is so great now for families to make it in these economic times. With the current rules in place for the industry in this state, utilizing the services of a payday loan professional has never been faster, easier and safer.

In 2010, the Colorado General Assembly passed House Bill 10-1351, named the Deferred Deposit Loan Act this bill provided for four significant changes in the way that payday lending companies can make a loan to a consumer. One of the changes that this bill sponsored by Rep. Liston & Sen. Heath of the Nebraska Legislative body is that a Nebraska Payday Loan cannot exceed 500 dollars for a borrower, and that there will be a minimum loan term of six months. This legislation was enacted to assist legislators to protect consumers from lenders that would loan them more money for possibly less time, in an effort to charge them more money for the service. In addition to this, the six month minimum was created to discourage borrowers from repeatedly borrowing money from a lender and to help motivate them to consider alternative solutions for their financial needs in the future.

The second change enacted by the Nebraska legislature was to prohibit a payday loan lender from renewing a loan more than once. In addition the bill also requires that there is a 30 day waiting period between the time that a payday lender can grant a loan to a previous customer. Sometimes individuals will tend to take what they perceive to be the easy way out of a situation, especially if it is a financially uncomfortable one. This provision was created to help borrowers (specifically repeat borrowers) to break the cycle of borrowing and to seek alternative solutions to their financial short falls.

A third significant change in the state laws of Nebraska in the matter of Payday Loans is that this new bill specifically outlines three charges that payday lending institutions are allowed to assess in the state of Nebraska. The first of the three charges is a finance charge of 20 percent on the first 300 dollars of money borrowed and 7.5 percent on the additional 200 dollars of money borrowed. The second change is an interest rate of 45 percent per year on funds borrowed. The third change is that payday lenders may charge a maintenance fee of 7.5 percent a month, and not to exceed 30 dollars a month if the loan is not paid off in the first month. The fourth change is that if the consumer pays the loan before the due date of the loan, then the lender must refund the pro-rated portion of the finance charge, based on the ratio of time left” before the loan due date.

The passage of this bill has created an environment between the lenders and the payday borrowers that is significantly less adversarial, with a greater degree of trust between the two parties. In addition these new laws have given the Nebraska Payday Loans industry a greater sense of respectability in that now people and the press can no longer accuse the industry of predatory practices. The goings on of the payday loan industry in the state of Nebraska is out front for everyone to behold, and there is nothing done in the dark. With the new laws and the new attitude towards the business, Nebraska Payday loans have taken on a greater respectability and a larger clientele base. No longer the perceived domain of those with bad credit and no assets; payday loans are now utilized by borrowers from almost every social economic background.

After the passage of Bill 10-1351, payday lenders did not know whether or not they would be required to refund the money that they had levied for a finance charge to their pre-existing clients; the amount would have been 20 percent on the first $300 of the loan and 7.5 percent for the final $200. The new law however renamed that finance charge an “origination fee” and stated that the starting fee is not subject to refund. This position was reversed three more times until finally they said that the origination fee was indeed refundable. The attorney general says that there has been a steady decrease in payday loan store in the state in the last 3 years. There was an 18 percent reduction in the years 2008-2009; a 6 percent reduction in the year 2009-2010; and a reduction of payday loan stores of 24 percent from 2010-2011. It is difficult to say what the primary cause of the decline in stores might be. Whether it is Bill 10-1351 or the struggling economy. It may very well be a balance of the two.

What-ever the reason, the Nebraska Payday loans industry is still alive and flourishing though in diminished numbers. However there is an increase in the quality and quantity of products and services offered to the customers, as well as providing the ease and convenience that payday loans provides for their client base. Payday loan clients generally do not want to spend weeks and days enduring the loan process of a traditional lending institution such as a bank, and they are not interested in having their credit history scrutinized for the purpose of obtaining a personal loan to help them out in a brief moment of financial need. Customers of Nebraska Payday loans also expect and enjoy the fact that in these lending stores they are going to be treated with the dignity and respect that they deserve as well as their loan being approved pretty much immediately.