By ROB NOVIT
Many people have misperceptions about the payday lending industry, said former S.C. Sen. Tommy Moore, who will soon be in a position to try and clear up some of those issues.
Moore resigned his 26-year Senate seat Saturday and will move to Alexandria, Va., to become executive vice president of Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA), a payday industry trade organization.
"It's an opportunity worth trying," Moore said Monday. "Over the past year and a half, CFSA has really installed some changes in reform in a continuous effort to make this product a responsible service. It's unfortunate that a lot of opinion-makers haven't talked to those who have used it."
Association spokesman Steven Schlein would not disclose how much Moore would be paid. The Associated Press reported the group paid its executive director $132,749 plus an undisclosed sum included in a $1.2 million "management fee" in 2005, the most recent year available from Guidestar, a nonprofit research group.
The industry has been sharply criticized recently by people who said it takes advantage of poorer consumers and the high interest rates send them into a spiraling crush of debt. But payday lenders have said the businesses provide a vital service and consumers pay more in fees in the long run when they bounce checks while trying to pay the bills.
"At this point in my career, I saw an exciting opportunity to take on a new challenge that builds on my long history of supporting and protecting consumers," Moore said in a news release issued by the group.
"We're deeply disappointed he would take a job like this. These are bad guys and they do shameful things," said John Ruoff, research director for the advocacy group South Carolina Fair Share.
But Jamie Fulmer, investor relations director for Spartanburg-based Advance America, Inc., the nation's largest payday lender, said Moore is an excellent choice for CFSA.
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Source: http://www.aikenstandard.com/homepage/293856011858728.php |
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