Lansing says no to payday advance lending as Michigan economy flails

The Payday Pundit states that kicking a legal, lucrative business like pay day loans out of town are a poor choice – so zoning them out is a poor choice. NWI.com reports that the Lansing, Mich., Planning and Zoning Board are looking for ways to revise ordinances to phase bad credit loans out of town. Couple this move with Michigan’s HB 4214 and impending financial martial law, and you have a bad scene for Lansing and the entire state. Article resource – Lansing says no to payday lending as Michigan economy flails by MoneyBlogNewz.

All the ’special use’ provisions to change

To see if changes are necessary, the “special use” zoning provisions are being looked at. Lansing’s Planning and Zoning Board of Appeals has been in charge of this. The suggestions that targeted payday lenders are not a coincidence. Parking near churches in residential neighborhoods and limiting the number of in-home day care centers may have its civic import, however the business of bad credit loans boosts both credit-constrained consumers’ ability to keep away from insolvency through credit default and a city’s economy as a whole.

While the proposed zoning change would only prevent new payday loans outlets from locating in Lansing, critics see such a move as the typical first step against an enterprise lawmakers want to covertly torpedo. Passing it off as encouraging “more variety in the types of companies” that call Lansing home, which is how Trustee Mikal Stole explained the proposal to NWI, is a smokescreen.

The anger

There have already been difficulties with Michigan House Bill 4214 as state AFL-CIO president Mark Gaffney said it was “an assault on democracy” while Detroit Rep. John Conyers said the government in the state would end up with a “financial czar” (EFM) with the power to “force a municipality” such as putting Lansing into bankruptcy. A new EFM will start to have control as the Benton Harbor, Mich., official’s powers have been superseded . HB 4214 gives the power for dissolution to the EFM appointed.

The per capita income in Benton Harbor is the lowest in Michigan at $8,965, the Rachel Maddow Blog states. Local “Twin City” St. Joseph is at $24,949 just across the St. Joseph River from Benton Harbor. This is significant because Benton Harbor is the home of the Whirlpool company, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. This is being celebrated on the “other side of the tracks” though. It is happening in St. Joseph instead.

The business staying at home is something the Benton Harbor business people would like. When it comes to payday loans, Lansing should be concerned about keeping its moneymakers around because a financial czar could possibly be waiting in the wings.

Articles cited

The Maddow Blog

maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/04/18/6489195-whats-at-stake-in-benton-harbor

NWI Times

nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_61f251e3-379e-5576-adde-8954a51e9131.html

Payday Pundit

paydaypundit.org/2011/04/18/too-prominent/