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75 cants S4LEM GREENSBORO HlGH POENT 'VII No. 40
18 120101 CAR-RT-LOT * *C012
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I WINSTON SALEM#NC 27101-2755 LJT ^ I If 1 not to t.e taken
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The Choice for African-American ISews
Both sides of pay
day lending debate
relying on research
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Rejuvenated by a recent com
plimentary study of their busi
ness by a prominent university,
those in the payday advance
industry are stepping up and
speaking out as the state's Gen
eral Assembly prepares to
debate whether it will continue
to regulate the industry.
Billy Webster, chief executive
officer of Advance America, the
largest payday advance compa
ny in the country, is hopeful that
the study done by the Credit
Research Center, a wing of
Georgetown University's
McDonough School of Busi
ness, will help dispel what he
calls the most popular myth
about his industry that it prays
on the poor and uneducated.
"If this Georgetown study
does nothing else. I hope it rein
forces that (our customers) are
not poor, uninformed people
who do not know what they are
getting into," he said.
Conducted among a sam
pling of payday advance cus
tomers across the country, the
study, released early last month,
concludes that most who use the
service have at least a high
school education and incomes
between $25,000 and $50,000.
"Our study shows that pay
day advance satisfies an unfilled
demand for very small, short
term credit in today's market,"
said Gregory Elliehausen, co
author of the study.
Payday advance businesses
provide short-term loans up to
$255, loans that must be paid
back with a high interest fee in
about two weeks.
The study also says that most
people only use the service infre
quently. Critics of the industry
have complained that customers
are forced to continue using the
system because they are unable
to pay off the short-term loans.
The payday lending industry
is thriving in most states. It is
regulated in about 50 of them.
The General Assembly first reg
ulated the industry in this state
about four years ago. but a
"sunset" provision in the bill
will allow the General Assembly
to take another look at the
industry it green lighted.
Webstey and others in the
industry insist that they have
gotten a bad rap because of
overzealous social activists and
horror stories from former pay
day lending customers who have
claimed that they were trapped
by the industry's high interest
rates.
"There have been nearly 5
million transactions, and only
about 40 complaints," Webster
said.
The industry is hopeful that
one of two bills currently before
the General Assembly will be
passed, leading to continued
regulation by the state, with
stricter guidelines for payday
lenders. Webster said if the Gen
eral Assembly decides not to
regulate the industry, it would
be a no-win situation for all
involved.
Many in the industry, he
said, will continue operating as
normal, but without rules set
forth by the General Assembly.
"If this bill sunsets, there will
be no change," he said. "This
business will still exist: it just
won't be regulated. We think
that's bad." he said.
On the other side of the ring,
opponents of the industry say
that the bills currently up for
consideration do not do enough
to protect consumers. The
Raleigh-based N.C. Justice and
Community Development Cen
ter complains that the bills do
nothing to lower what it calls
"exorbitant" interest rates on
the short-term loans. The group
also is unhappy that the bills
would not outlaw flipping, a
|term used to describe back-to
|back-to-back loans.
1 Jeffery Paddyfot, regional
^director for Advance America
"locations in North Carolina,
said the company tries to pre
vent repeated use of its services
by offering credit counseling
information to customers who
repeatedly use the service. Pad
dyfot said it's the company's pol
icy to offer such services when a
customer uses the service con
tinually.
But Rob Schofield, an attor
ney for the N.C. Justice and
Community Development Cen
ter. said that if that is indeed
Advance America's policy, they
are one of a very few that offer
that service.
See Payday an A4
First-time home buyers get
ally with new center
I ROM MAI I Kl PORTS
Representatives from the Win
ston-Salem financial, nonprofit
and real estate sectors have joined
government officials to create a
new center to help first-time home
buyers.
The Home Ownership Center
will be designed to educate poten
tial buyers about the benefits of
home ownership and provide
counseling that will enable them
to purchase homes
The creation of the center was
was announced last Monday at a
ceremony in the Neil Place subdi
vision, on the corner of Cherry
and 14th streets, to accompany
festivities surrounding National
Home Ownership Week.
"Our goal is to increase home
ownership," said Mayor Jack
Cavanagh. "Typically, the more
people who own their homes, the
stronger and more cohesive the
neighborhood. This contributes
to a stronger overall economy."
The Local Initiatives Support
Corp. (LISC), the nation's leading
community support organization,
was a major contributor in orga
nizing the collaboration, with
more than 15 partners, including
the Forsyth County Department
of Housing and the U.S. Depart
ment of Housing and Urban
Development. This is mainly
because no other single Winston
Salem organization had the ability
to provide extensive home coun
seling and education services.
Potential and current home
buyers will be able to receive home
buyer education and training;
individual counseling to resolve
issues that might be an obstacle to
home ownership; and information
about public and private loans
and grants.
"Several of the groups that
Sec Horn* buyers on A9
. Photos by Kevin Walker
Cornelia Woodruff waits to sign a petition to keep a halfway house out of her community. Her
husband, Robert, signed the petition first.
Not in our neighborhood
Residents do not
like the-possibility
of a halfway house
in their community
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Residents of the North Cher
ry Street/ Indiana Avenue com
munity emphatically stated last
week at a neighborhood meeting
that everyone including federal
prisoners - deserves a second
chance. But they just as emphat
ically objected to a proposal that
would create a federal halfway
house in their back yard, taking
the position that those who
would live at the facility should
start their lives anew elsewhere.
Nearly 100 concerned resi
dents from the community
packed into Brown & Douglas
Recreation Center to sound off
about the proposal. Their alder
man, Nelson Malloy, led the
meeting, laying out a plan of
attack that includes a letter-writ
ing campaign and a petition.
"Everybody deserves a sec
ond chance, but the issue at
hand is about the appropriate
ness of where they want to
locate this facility," Malloy said.
This building is being proposed for a halfway house that will
house about 30 offenders.
The letters and other mea
sures ;are aimed at persuading
Bannum Inc. to reconsider its
plans to convert the building at
4508 Cherry Street into a com
munity corrections facility for
federal offenders released to the
Winstorv-Salem area.
Bannum, which operates
many such facilities throughout
the region, is trying to win a
live-year contract from the fed
eral Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to
operate the Cherry Street loca
tion. Bannum js trying to beat
out The Salvation Army on
Trade Street, which has served
See Neighborhood on A9
Group
attacks
domestic
violence
BY PAUL COLLINS
THE CHRONICLE '
The Domestic Violence
Coordinating Council (DVCC)
strives to create a more coordi
nated effort between community
agencies. law enforcement,
health-care providers, judicial
and legal representatives, faith ,
community leaders, educators
and other community members
dealing with domestic violence
issues. The mission is to
strengthen the collaboration
between community systems in
an effort to improve the lives of
those affected by domestic vio
lence.
The DVCC meets bi-monthly
to provide an opportunity for its
members to come together and
evaluate how specific systems
are addressing the issue of
domestic violence both in pre
vention and response, and how
to increase the level of safety in *
the community.
The DVCC is composed of
several task groups that focus on
specific issues such as criminal
justice and health-care training,
community awareness, funding
and the effects of domestic vio
lence on children and youths.
Through these task groups, the
DVCC seeks to identify ways to
expand upon the work it is
already doing in the area of
domestic violence.
Sharee Fowler, facilitator of
the Domestic Violence Coordi
nating Council, said the DVCC
plans to start in the near future a
subcommittee dealing with ser
vices for the Hispanic popula
tion and how domestic violence
is handled in terms of cultural
issues and law enforcement
response. "We do see a very large
number of cases come through
3-C. which is the family court,
where Hispanic families are
involved," Fowler said. "The cul
tural issues (include): people not
necessarily understanding laws,
victims who are Hispanics not
understanding that they do have
access to different services
regardless of whether they are
legal or not, things like that."
1
V >
Kimberly Park
getting thumbs up
for new attraction
BY MELDF. RUTLEDGE
THE CHRONICLE
Aqua-craved swimmers of Kimberly Pool
received something new this summer when the
Winston-Salem Recreation and Parks IX'part
ment added a water playground to the pool for
the hot days to come.
Located at 620 Burton Street, the addition
took about two months to construct, but before
work began, workers had to remove the baby
pool that once rested in that area.
According to Dick Butler, the aquatic super
visor of the department, $160,000 was allotted
for the project. The department raised $80,000,
and the other half was matched by a parks and
recreation trust fund.
The playground is geared toward children up
to 10 years of age. although anyone can enjoy it.
1 Sec DVCC on A10
Splash!!!!
Photo by Vickie Rut ledge
A young girl relaxes in the new water park at Kimberly Park Pool.
i i see root on ?y ?
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