Saturday, February 16, 2008

Payday loans are not the only predatory lending system allowed in Virginia ["Payday Parasites," editorial, Feb. 14].

I'm a lawyer, and a client recently came to me with something called a "motor vehicle equity line of credit." For the "privilege" of borrowing $300, she had to first pay a $150 "membership fee" and was charged 300 percent interest. Her finance charge was $79.44 per month and, of course, that was only the interest. Her collateral was her car, and she had to give the lender a duplicate car key. She missed one payment; they took her car and sold it.

If that isn't criminal, it should be.

LEONARD J. KOENICK

Fort Washington