The Franklin News-Post
P. O. Box 250
310 Main Street, SW
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
540-483-5113
Fax: 540-483-8013
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Monday, December 29, 2008
By JOEL TURNER - Staff Writer
Franklin County loan seekers, beware.
Don't be taken in by payday lenders who offer online loans, state officials warn.
Internet payday loans will soon be illegal and unenforceable in Virginia.
This is one of the changes in the Virginia payday loan law that takes effect Jan. 1, 2009, according to the Virginia Organizing Project.
During the 2008 session, the General Assembly made broad changes in the payday loan law.
The organizing project, a grassroots organization, has summarized the changes in the law in a recent newsletter.
The changes limit the number of loans borrowers can have each year, and extends the amount of time they have to repay a loan.
Another change prohibits payday lenders from harassing or abusing borrowers if they don't repay their loan.
Payday lenders may not threaten a person with criminal prosecution for not repaying a payday loan. The new law also adds penalties to payday lenders who violate this prohibition.
Another change prohibits a payday lender from making a loan to a person on the same day that he or she repaid a previous loan.
Also, a payday lender cannot make a loan to a person if the person already has an unpaid loan from any payday lender.
The law now requires a payday lender to give a borrower at least two pay periods to repay a loan.
If a borrower is paid every two weeks, the minimum loan term must be 28 days.
Borrowers also have the right to an extended payment plant, and lenders must tell borrowers about this right. Borrowers also have the right to make partial payments on their loans.
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