Many payday lending businesses has been challenged by regional and national legislation all over the country. The industry itself says that it can and does regulate itself, choosing whom and when it will give out loans discriminately. But, as is often the case with any industry private or public, policing themselves rarely works out in the long run.

The payday loan industry brings in 24.1 billion, that’s billion with a ‘B’, dollars in revenue every year. It seems strange that an industry that makes it’s living loaning people with poor credit money are doing as well as they are. But the proof is in the numbers, and the details. Lending companies make their profit by charging transaction fees and interest on the loans they make. This is the point in which many opponents of the payday industry say the companies take advantage of their customers.

Individual states have legislation already on the books or pending that are detrimental to the payday industry. And some states, 19 in all, don’t allow payday loan businesses to operate. These states usually site usury laws, laws which prohibit high interest rates, for their reasoning for prohibiting payday lenders.

The problems with these payday loans are not always one that they’ve created alone. Some borrowers take out loans that they know they can’t repay in a timely manner. In addition to not being able to repay their original loan for whatever reason, many borrowers take out several loans back to back and aren’t able to pay back any. This practice, opening several payday loans one after another-has been outlawed in many states. Yet, in other states the phenomenon prevails.

It’s obvious that the federal government sees a problem with the practices of the payday loans industry. In 2007, Congress passed a bill called the Military Authorization Act making it illegal for payday lenders to operate near military bases and do business with active military personnel. Apparently, so many military members were getting into debt that the government considered it a security risk, possibly exposing military members to accepting bribes to get out of debt. Strangely enough, no similar legislation has been passed to protect the general public from predatory lending. For that reason, many consumer groups have arisen in opposition of the industry.

Of the thousands of payday loan stores that exist in America, there are so many that have been accused of illegal dealings with customers. It is up to the nearly 12 million payday loan customers to check into the business they are dealing with. Sometimes, however, circumstances make it impossible for borrowers to payback on time. And not only will they have to contend with payday loan companies when their loan becomes delinquent, but they might also face criminal charges from their banking institution for writing a bad check.

Only 1 percent of all payday loan users are one time users who acquire the loan for emergency reasons. That means that 99% of all of the industries customers are repeat borrowers, which means payday lending is a regular financing option for some customers; opening them up even more to higher fees and interest rate and in some cases, plunging people deep into debt. For the mostly lower income customers who have few other options, payday loans can become more of a hindrance than a help.