Advocacy
Issue advocacy requires organizations to educate and inform decision makers, community leaders, and the general public about the benefits of supporting their position. Smith Hill CDC is a strong advocate for issues in the area of affordable housing, place-based strategies of community building and those relating to poverty. Our intention on this page is to act as clearinghouse for RI State legislative issues.
Payday Lending Reform
A payday loan is a small loan secured by the borrower’s personal check, due in full by the borrower’s next payday, typically in two weeks. Because of these terms and high fees, borrowers can’t both repay the loan so soon and meet essential expenses, so they must take out another loan immediately upon repaying the previous one. Thus, the debt trap ensues. The payday industry depends on churning borrowers payday after payday. Only 2 percent of payday loans go to borrowers that take out a payday loan, pay it off, and don’t come back for a year. The core of industry revenue comes from borrowers trapped in their faulty product.
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