NEWS THAT IMPACTS YOUR
BUSINESS
Updated
August 7, 2007 -- Scroll down to read all stories.
MEETING WITH SENATE LEADERS.
August 1, 2007. Michael
Sullivan has arranged an extended meeting with the leaders of the Alabama Senate. It turns out this will be a three day golfing trip with
Senators Lowell Barron, Zeb Little, Senate Majority Leader and Hinton Mitchem, President Pro Tem
of the Senate. This will give us plenty of face time
with those who help decide our fate in the Senate!
The trip is sponsored by several members of TPCA and CFL.
Click on the picture below to see who sponsored this event and helped
make it possible.
List
updated 8/7/07
By the way, this is confidential information for members
only. We should not publicize this event.
STATE OF ALABAMA SETTING UP A NEW ONLINE SYSTEM
FOR AUTO TITLES.
August 1, 2007. We all
know the problems with filing a lien in Alabama. It's manual and
it takes six to eight weeks. Not good! Now comes
the State of Alabama with their new
ETAPS system. At the moment it is only available for Designated
Agents (which excludes us). However, it will be available soon for
non Designated Agents for the purpose of filing liens. This will significantly
reduce the turn-around time from many weeks to just days.
TPCA met last week with the State to discuss how we can
participate in the new system. The State expressed a high level of
interest in working with us to be sure pawnbrokers have a system that
works for them. Through August and September the State will be
working on the development of the new system and they have invited us to
work with them -- which we will do. This new system will not be a
full blown Designated Agent system, but a system primarily for filing liens. The State
also expressed an interest in attending one of our future meetings to
discuss this and to discuss other issues connected with title transfers.
We don't know when the final ETAPS system will be available to us, but
our guess is about six months (maybe less). We will
keep you all informed about this great new service.
SUPREME COURT MAKES DECISION ON WAITES CASE.
July
6, 2007. Our association attorney,
Jeff Ingram,
has informed us that the Alabama Supreme Court has made their decision
regarding the Waites case. You may recall, this is the case that
would have invalidated the pawn statute. The Supreme Court has
reversed the decision which is a big ruling in our favor. We do
not have any further information at this moment. Please check back
here later for more information.
Updated July, 7th --
You can now go
here
to download the decision. Jeff Ingram indicated there were several
significant issues about this case; 1) It was decided much sooner than
expected, which may be an indication of the merits (an easy decision),
2) There were no dissenters (this is unusual) and 3) there were several
arguments in the case but the only one addressed in the decision was the
standing of the plaintiff which turned the case. Read this
decision. It is good. Jeff and the other attorneys deserve
"big time kudos" for this job! Had the decision gone the other
way, we would have BIG problems on this day.
IMPORTANT ARBITRATION
DECISION. June 20, 2007. Our association attorney,
Galese & Ingram,
has informed us that the Alabama Supreme Court has handed down an
important decision with regard to an arbitration case involving TitleMax
and a wrongful repossession case. This is quite an interesting
case. Issues relating to repossession are probably the single most
common legal issue our members face. Not to have a legally well
drafted arbitration agreement in place on every single customer can
be a very real and serious threat to your business! Read and
download the decision here.
SUPREME
COURT TITLE PAWN CASE UPDATE
May
18, 2007. Our attorney, Jeff
Ingram, has advised there is nothing new to report on this important
case. Further, he does not expect any decision until much later in
the year. We will keep you posted.
PAYDAY BILL MEETING IN SENATE
COMMITTEE TODAY! May
15, 2007. Read the good news at
the legislative site here.
NEW ACTION ON PAYDAY LENDING
BILLS IN THE SENATE. May 10, 2007.
Michael Sullivan, our TPCA lobbyist, reported yesterday that
the special Senate committee chaired by Sen. Byrne planned to introduce
his legislation next Tuesday to the committee. The main provisions of this
legislation are:
-
2% rate per month on payday loans
-
30 maximum term for loan
-
Maximum of three loans in any twelve month period
-
Next business day right of rescission
-
Allow for extended payment with no fees
-
No rollovers or renewals
-
Ban on military lending
We
now learn that Senator Byrne will be the new chancellor of the
two year college system. We hope and expect this may effectively
stop this legislation. We will get you more information after the
committee meets next Tuesday.
HB-769 IS INTRODUCED WITH CHANGES TO THE
PAWN STATUTE.
May 3, 2007.
See
the details here at our
legislative page regarding this bill.
SOME GOOD NEWS.
April 12, 2007.
See
this article from the Wall Street Journal regarding payday lending.
It's good. The news has most definitely improved on many fronts since the
launch of the CFSA campaign.
STATE BANKING SUPERINTENDENT APPEARS ON
ALABAMA PUBLIC TELEVISION.
April 9, 2007. One of our members
alerted us to the appearance by the State Banking Superintendent on
Alabama Public Television a couple of weeks ago. Click
here to see his interview in which he discusses, among other things,
payday lending and title lending.
SESSION NEARING HALF-WAY POINT. April 9, 2007.
The legislature is nearing the half-way
point. They will convene this week, but will be off next week for break.
When they return, the session will be at the half-way point. So far,
there is no additional news to report on the bills that affect us as
described below. For the most part the Senate seems to be bogged down on
internal political issues.
UPDATE ON RECENT BILLS TO SHUT DOWN THE
INDUSTRY. April 2, 2007.
There is no news of any significance to report
on the proposed legislation. A committee has been formed that includes
the Senators who introduced the legislation, the payday and title industry
representatives (which includes us) and consumer group representatives.
The committee has held meetings which are essentially to provide the
Senators with feedback on the impact of their legislation. The focus of
the committee, at the moment, seems to be on the payday legislation. The
committee plans to address the title bill after the payday issues are
resolved. At the moment we do not have any timeframes on when that will
occur.
UPDATE ON RECENT BILLS TO SHUT DOWN THE
INDUSTRY. March 24, 2007.
We are working on the
three Senate bills through our lobbyists that would shut down our
industry. There is no news to report (good or bad) at the moment. We
expect to see more activity in the press over the next week or so and we
expect that legislation may be introduced in the House that would be
similar to that in the Senate. Many of you have contacted us wanting to
know if there is anything you can do. The only thing you can do at the
moment is to make sure you are a member of our association. We will soon
need all the support we can muster. Your support will be critical when
the time comes.
BILLS INTRODUCED IN ALABAMA SENATE WILL
SHUT DOWN OUR INDUSTRY!!
March 10, 2007. The Senate introduced
three bills that for all practical purposes will shut down the industry.
To those who have attended our meetings this should come as no surprise.
Your association is working diligently on this situation. We do not have
much to report at the moment. Many of you have asked if we need to begin
contacting our local representatives. The short answer, is not yet. At
the proper time, we will most definitely let you know we are ready to
begin an intense, grass-roots effort to present our side of the story.
Rest assured, we are monitoring and tracking this situation hourly
throughout every day. We will soon get back with more information. Also,
rest assured this is the most significant threat against our industry
since we formed TPCA six years ago!
See the press articles
here,
here and
here.
NEW WEB SITE IN THE MAKING. March 10, 2007.
We are working on a new web site and it should be completed
in the next month or so. There will be many new features and more
information available to our members. For the most part, the new site
will be for TPCA members only through a registration
process. If you are not a member of TPCA, you may want to consider
joining now.
A NEW LOW COST, LIMITED TIME
INTRODUCTORY TPCA MEMBERSHIP IS NOW AVAILABLE. March 10, 2007.
The Board of Directors has approved a new, limited time introductory rate
for TPCA membership which is substantially lower than our current dues.
Go here
for our current dues. This new dues arrangement has not been added to any
other location on this site yet. The annual cost under the new plan is
$350 for your first store and $100 for each additional store up to a
maximum of 10 stores. We will bill this on a quarterly basis. If you are
not member and have never been a member, now is the time to join.
Especially now, with what we are facing! Hurry, though this offer will
expire soon. Drop us an
email or call at
205-733-9926 for more information or to join under this new low rate
option.
TPCA WILL HELP ORGANIZE A
NEW ASSOCIATION TO PROMOTE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITLE AND PAYDAY LENDING
INDUSTRY.
February 11, 2007.
At our meeting on January 31st we discussed
an exciting new concept to promote "good news" about our industry (title
pawn and payday advance). Due the constant attacks by the press in
which the press virtually never, ever bothers to tell the other side of
the story, we all agreed it was time someone spoke out for our
industry. We plan to do this! You will hear much more about this
later.
SUPREME COURT CASE HAS NEW
INTERVENER IN TITLE PAWN LAW SUITE.
January 9, 2007.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has filed
a brief in the Supreme Court case against us.
Here is a link
to their web site. They are an "activist" organization. It is probably
fair to say their agenda is opposed to ours!
SENATE COMPLETES
ORGANIZATION SESSION.
January 9, 2007.
The Alabama Senate completed their
organization session today. It did not go as everyone expected
(including us).
Here is the story. Now that this task is complete, the TPCA Board
of Directors will meet to map out our strategy for this session. This
is shaping up to be a very trying period for us. The session begins in
early March but bills can and most likely will be filed any time between
now and the end of the session.
SENATE ORGANIZATION SESSION
BEGINS THIS WEEK.
January 7, 2007.
The Alabama Senate meets this week to
decide the leadership roles for the next session. The outcome of this
will be very important to our members.
Go here for the story.
BIRMINGHAM NEWS & TV
STATIONS BASH PAYDAY LENDERS AS PREDATORY
December 2, 2006.
A spate of articles appeared this week
bashing payday lenders as predators. Clearly, this is timed to
influence legislation -- both local and national! Read much more about
this here.
REGIONS BANK ADOPTS AMSOUTH "BANK CLOSING
POLICY".
November 8, 2006.
We have been advised by the Modern
Financial folks (payday association) of new bank closings. We hate to
say we told you so -- BUT.
See our news article from several
months ago regarding the AmSouth - Regions merger. Actually, we thought
the issue was put to bed at the end of last year, but apparently that is
not the case. Go to the bank closing link on the left and read all
about this problem. This is not a local issue. There have been
hearings in Washington to resolve this problem. We thought those
efforts had paid off and the problem was resolved. That does not now
appear to be the case. This latest round of problems is most likely
linked to the merger of AmSouth and Regions.
If you are contacted by Regions about your
banking account you will have no other choice but to find another bank.
We do not know of anyone who has convinced AmSouth (now Regions) to
change their mind. We suggest you try local community banks. We don't
know if it will work, but it is about your only option. None of the
major banks seem willing to accept new business from our industry. We
will keep you appraised of the situation.
WE MADE OUR CONTRIBUTION
GOAL
November
8, 2006.
Go here to
see the latest.
WE ARE WAY SHORT OF OUR
CONTRIBUTION GOAL
October
20, 2006.
Go here
to see where we stand and to see those who are standing with
us!
IS THIS A NEW COMPETITOR? (THE STATE
& CREDIT UNIONS)
October 20,
2006. See
this article regarding a new approach to payday loans. Looks like
the State and Credit Unions are moving into the business.
JUDGE RULES PAWNSHOP LAW
INVALID October 20, 2006.
As discussed at our meeting in September
(and reported here) this is an
issue the association will deal with and will follow closely. We will
certainly keep our members informed on this important issue. The
Defendant in the case has now filed a motion for appeal, which was fully
expected. The association has agreed to file a brief on behalf of our
members and we expect to do so at the appropriate time. Many have asked
about the timing. You can go
here for a general timeline of the events.
BOARD MEETS -
APPOINTS NEW DIRECTOR
October 20,
2006.
The Board of Directors
met yesterday and appointed Mr. Bob Reich with Community Loans of
America to the Board of Directors. We are excited about having Bob join
us. He has a broad range of experience in the industry which will be a
very important asset as we face multiple challenges in the months
ahead. Community Loans operates in Alabama as Alabama Title Loans and
as US Title Loans. They are one of the largest title loan operators in
the state and in the country. Please join us in welcoming Bob to the
Board of Directors.
The Board also agreed to focus on
positioning the association to meet the challenges ahead by bringing on
new members and expanding the leadership of the association. You will
hear more about this is the weeks ahead.
GREAT AARP STORY
October 12 2006.
This article appeared in a South Carolina
paper. Maybe we are beginning to see more clearly the AARP motives in
attacking us so aggressively. Just what's in it for them?
Read the article and see.
POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS.
October 11 2006.
At our meeting a few weeks ago many of you
pledged to contribute to the PAC. If you have not already done so,
please get your checks in ASAP. We will post the list
of contributions here in a few days. As you can see from the news
below, we will surely need to help our friends in hopes they will stay
in Montgomery!
Click here for instructions on making your
contributions.
JUDGES RULING APPEALED.
October 11 2006.
The defendant in the recent case that
declared the pawn statute invalid has this week filed their intention to
appeal that decision as required by the appeal process. TPCA also plans
to file an appeal on behalf of our members.
US CONGRESS PASSES MILITARY
LENDING LEGISLATION
October 11
2006.
The US Congress has
passed and sent legislation to the President that shuts down lending to
military personnel and their dependants.
Go here or
our association's attorney assessment and
go here
for Modern Financials (payday association) attorney's
assessment.
SENATOR BARRON GETS SLAMMED FOR PAYDAY
LOANS.
October 11
2006.
As we predicted the
press and political candidates are turning up the rhetoric and we are
right in the crosshairs. This will clearly turn out to be a
very bad situation in the next legislative session.
Click here
or below and see the latest on Senator Barron.
See
What They Have To Say About Us
MORE ON SENATOR BARRON'S
PLANS FOR THE INDUSTRY.
September
14, 2006.
For those who do
not know of Senator Barron, he is President Pro Tem of the Senate. That
is the top office in the Senate and one of the most powerful positions
in our government. Senator Barron was key in getting the payday
legislation passed a few years ago. He also had an ownership position
in several payday loan stores. That is HAD. The
news article indicated he has disposed of his interest and is no longer
in the payday loan business. In sum, here is what he wants to do in new
legislation he plans to introduce in March:
-
Stop payday roll-overs
-
Set up a single database controlled by
State Banking to monitor payday loans
-
Establish a cooling off period for
renewal of payday loans
-
Only one payday loan in a 60 day period
per customer
-
Place title loans under the Small Loan
Act at 24% to 36% APR
Read
All About It Here.
SENATOR LOWELL BARRON PLANS
TITLE & PAYDAY LEGISLATION.
September 14, 2006.
We have
just learned from a front page article appearing in the Huntsville Times
that Senator Barron plans to introduce legislation that will
dramatically effect the title and payday industry! Check back
later and we will have more information.
Here is the article.
JUDGE RULES PAWNSHOP LAW
INVALID.
September 9, 2006.
On August 25th St. Clair County Circuit
Judge Charles Robinson Sr. struck down a provision of the Alabama Pawn
Shop Act in a summary court ruling, saying it violates the Equal
Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
Click here to download the decision (this is a .pdf file and it may
take a moment to load). We will hold a meeting to discuss this
unprecedented ruling and how it will impact our industry.
Click here for
meeting information.
REGIONS ACQUIRES AMSOUTH
BANK. May 25, 2006.
AmSouth bank has been
acquired by Regions Bank's. Some reports show it as a merger. This is
not good if you have a bank account at Regions. As we reported at length
last year, AmSouth was the main cause of bank discontinuance in our
region. We do not know of any of our members who had an AmSouth bank
account who did not have their account closed. Stated another way,
everyone who had an account at AmSouth had their account closed Many of
those who could not find bank accounts moved to Regions. Oh well.
If you have a problem, click
here and read our
reports from last year. Quite frankly, if you encounter problems with
Regions we do not of know much you can do except to locate another bank.
JUDGE MAY RULE PAWNSHOP ACT INVALID.
May
18, 2006. A few days ago we sent a notice
regarding a circuit judge in St. Clair county who we expect to rule that
the Alabama Pawnshop Act is invalid. We now have additional
information. The original lawsuit was brought against a title operator
in Pell City, AL. We just discovered the operator is a member of TPCA.
The operator has been in this business for a many years and they operate
by the books. The original lawsuit goes back almost four years. We
understand the judge does not think much of our industry and has not
apparently found a violation of any existing statute. So, this move is
apparently his solution. We are not making this up, promise.
If the judge makes this ruling, it will
most certainly be appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court. This means
between twelve and eighteen months before anything would be decided.
WELCOME
NEW MEMBERS. May
18, 2006.
Please join us in welcoming two
new members -- Community Loans of America, one of the largest title
lenders in the country (operating as Alabama Title Loans in Alabama) and
Speedy Cash with several stores in south Alabama. Together these
companies represent 40 new stores who are now members of TPCA. We don't
know how many title stores there are in the state, but we believe there
are between 500 and 600 (there are about 900 total pawnshop licensees,
but many are traditional pawnshops only). With these new members, we
believe well over 50% of the operators in, terms of stores, are members
of TPCA. Why is that important, you ask? There are many good reasons,
but two that come to mind immediately are: 1) We clearly have more clout
in Montgomery (a pretty important reason) and 2) If we can continue to
grow, at some point we will be able to address our dues structure, which
will help all of us.
NEWS
FROM GEORGIA NEIGHBOR.
May
18, 2006.
On March 25 (see the
article below) we wrote about the situation in Georgia. Thanks to
the hard work of many industry folks nothing happened -- this year.
Our president, Jimmy Wiggins, is close to the situation in Georgia and
reports that this was a major battle. He fully expects the issue to be
on the agenda at the next legislative session.
SB501 WILL BRING BIG
CHANGES FOR TITLE OPERATORS.
March 25, 2006.
Now comes new legislation in the Senate to
monitor our industry with a state-wide database and require us to charge
additional fees for every transaction. We believe this is bad
legislation and we are working against it. Click on
Legislative
for more information.
NEWS FROM NEIGHBORS.
March 25, 2006.
We have our
own battles here (as noted above). Our industry is under constant
attack. If gone unchecked, the outcome will not be good. Consider just
the states that border Alabama: Florida; title loans were
outlawed years ago -- NO MORE TITLE LOANS IN FLORIDA, Mississippi; among other changes they implemented a few years
ago customers are required to pay a portion of their
principal every month, Tennessee; just this year
implemented changes similar to MS. And now comes Georgia.
Read what the Atlanta Journal has to say about it by clicking
here. The outcome under pending legislation in Georgia could be
like Florida or like Tennessee (let's hope it is TN). Don't
think we are immune in Alabama. This is the reason for your association
and the primary reason we exist. Our number one job is to look after
our interest and to do all we can do to be sure what has happened to our
neighbors does not happen to us here. We need everyone's help in order
to succeed. If you are not a member, please stand with us by
joining today.
LICENSES MAY NOT BE
RENEWED.
December
28, 2005.
There is a glitch in the new internet
license renewal system for pawnbroker and deferred deposit licenses. The
error occurs only if you have multiple licenses. If you used the “back”
button on your browser after you completed your first license
application to then enter another license application the system only
processed the first license. All applications after the first
application were not processed by the system.
Click here to
read the entire article.
MEETING WITH NEW STATE
BANKING HEAD. December 12, 2005. Last week Jimmy, Max
& Michael Sullivan (our lobbyist) met with the new superintendent
of the State Banking Department, Mr. John Harrison.
Click here
for Jimmy's report.
ASSOCIATION ATTORNEY
REVIEWS SUPREME COURT RULING.
December
2, 2005.
Our
association attorney, Jeff Ingram of Galese and Ingram, has completed
his review of the recent Supreme Court ruling. We have faxed and
emailed his assessment to all members. If you have not received yours,
please drop us an email
(click here) and we will get it out to you right away. His review
is quite interesting and you will not want to miss it.
ALABAMA SUPREME COURT RULES
AGAINST PAYDAY LOAN INDUSTRY.
November 22, 2005.
The
Alabama Supreme Court ruled on a lawsuit against the payday loan
industry on Friday. This lawsuit has been around for years. It appears
to affect only operators who made loans prior to the deferred deposit
legislation that passed in 2003. We are not yet sure what the impact of
this will be. Our association attorney is researching the issue and we
will get his assessment to our members in the next few days. Click on
the link below to read the story as it appeared in the Birmingham News.
Court
rules against payday loan industry.
POLITICIANS IN
VIRGINIA TO GO AFTER PAYDAY LOANS IN NEXT SESSION.
November 17, 2005.
It's just not safe anywhere -- at least without a good association
behind you! We have talked at length how several of our neighboring
states have hit a brick wall with regard to title and payday loans.
Florida did away with title loans and then they hit payday loans with
big changes (none of them good). Georgia outlawed payday loans and now
are trying the same with title loans. Tennessee has just made big
changes in title loans (guess how many changes help the operators?).
And now comes Virginia wanting to eliminate payday loans (like North
Carolina has). Read the story by clicking the link below.
There may be
a message here. If you do not have a strong association
in this industry working for you, you may become TOAST! Make sure you
support your association if you want to have a chance.
VA
wants to pull the plug.
TITLEMAX SAYS,
"PLEASE DON'T PUT US OUT OF BUSINESS."
August 1, 2005.
See this
article published today (click link below). This is not looking good!
AJC -- More Title Pawn Hearings
GEORGIA TITLE LOAN PROBLEMS WORSEN
July 27, 2005.
Georgia has turned out to be a
bad state
for payday loans, mortgage loans and now maybe title loans! As a result
of an assault by the Atlanta paper (Atlanta Journal Constitution) the
Georgia legislature introduced adverse title pawn legislation in the
last session. It did not pass. BUT, they agreed to hold hearings over
the summer and address title pawn again in the next legislative
session. Now, this may not seem like an Alabama problem, but it could
very easily spill over. Remember the horrible bills introduced by the
Alabama legislature when title pawn was outlawed by our other neighbor
(Florida) a few years ago? That was certainly no coincidence.
Click on the link below to read what Georgia (and maybe us) are up
against.
AJC
-- Title Pawn Articles
AJC
Hypocrisy & Bias
PAYDAY
SCAM ALERT
July 27, 2005.
The Modern Financial
group (payday loan association for Alabama) has advised us there is a
payday scam making the rounds in the state. So far as we know it has
only affected payday loans. But, the group could easily expand into
title loans. Here is the information provided to us by the Modern
Financial Group:
A GSA employee has been to many check cashing stores in Alabama and
used more than one social security number. We have a special
investigator for GSA working on this. The names used by the
perpetrators are Keshia Horton and Carla Neal. The following are
stores that have been affected that we ARE AWARE OF; AAA
Between Pay Day, Check N GO, Cash Back, The Money Store, Approved
Cash Advance, 500Fast Cash, United Cash Loans, AmeriLoan, Cash
Advance Plus Paycheck Today, Oneclickcash, Check Into Cash, Easy
Money, Ez Pawn, Cash Mart, Fast Cash, Talking Cash, Advance America,
Cash Advance Plus. The GSA investigator needs our help. They want
to get this message to our members to help identify how many other
locations are involved. This appears to be a ring and they have
stolen thousands of dollars. In order to get Federal help the
amount must be 10,000.00. Otherwise, this puts it back to local
jurisdictions. Please let us know if you have any information about
this group.
If
you have any information, please send an
e-mail or
fax (205-444-9606) with the details. Or you can give Max a call at
205-733-9926. We will get it to the Modern folks right away. We have
been able to help in robberies with our alerts, maybe we can help here
as well.
