Two Missouri consumers wrote in recently with their situations:

got caught in the payday loan chase,...one loan,...money already spent when it came due,...wrote a second at another store to cover the first,...building a House of Cards,...predictably the house is falling and I can't pay either,...need help with this exploitation

And another

My husband and i have defaulted on approx 10 payday loans. As a result of these loans we are now being evicted from our house and need to save everything we can to be able to pay for somewhere else to live. We have every intention of paying these loans off, we are just unable to meet their payment arrangements. These places have been calling our house and cell phones numerous times a day and have also been contacting our friends and families. There are a couple of them that have even come to our house looking for money. What legal rights do I have?

While there may be no violation of your rights here, you can both file consumer complaints with our office. When we get involved to mediate these issues, we often find that payday loan companies will work with the consumer and agree to reduce the debt.

AG Nixon has pushed the Missouri legislature for years to stiffen the regulations on payday lenders, which now charge an average 422% annual percentage rate. Other states have done this, but Missouri legislature has not touched it. Ours is one of the weakest payday loan laws in the country, and AG Nixon urged then Gov. Bob Holden to veto it, but Holden signed it in 2002.