FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 27, 2010

Press conference and presentation to address payday lending and the link to community crime

Contact: Jay Speer
804-782-9430, Ext. 12
jay@vplc.org

Dana Wiggins
804-782-9430, Ext. 21
dana@vplc.org

RICHMOND - A press conference on proposed legislation limiting the number of payday loan institutions in localities will be held on the same day a professor from George Washington University will present his findings on the link between payday loan institutions and the increase in community crime.

The press conference, at 4 p.m. on Jan. 28 in the House Briefing Room of the Virginia General Assembly building, will outline two of Delegate Glenn Oder's bills, HB 412 and HB 413, which would authorize the governing body of any locality to adopt a resolution or ordinance that would reasonably limit the number of payday lenders that may operate within a locality and would also enable a locality to adopt an ordinance requiring that a special exception or a special use permit be obtained before a payday lender makes a payday loan from a location within the locality. Delegate Oder will discuss his bills and Senator Donald McEachin will also speak in support of the bills at the press conference.

Dr. Gregory Squires, a professor of Sociology and Public Policy and Public Administration at George Washington University, will also speak at the press conference. Squires will highlight a recent study he co-authored which links the concentration of payday lending institutions with an increase in violent crime rates in the neighborhoods in which they operate.

Later that evening, at a 6 p.m. program at the University of Richmond Downtown sponsored by the Virginia Partnership to Encourage Responsible Lending and the Consumer Alliance of Virginia, Squires will connect the issue of payday lending with the high cost that not only borrowers end up paying for these loans, but also the effect these institutions have on the community at large. He will also speak about his research on the impact of segregation on subprime lending. His presentation will be followed by a discussion and question and answer period.

"Communities do end up paying the cost for the predatory lenders that operate in their neighborhoods. We hope that Delegate Oder's bills and Dr. Squires' presentation will educate people about the impact these types of establishments have not only on the people that take out these loans, but also on those that live in the areas that surround these shops," said Dana Wiggins, Coordinator of the Virginia Partnership to Encourage Responsible Lending.