From the first day that Payday Lenders setup shop in the Greater Wards Corner Partnership area, the members of the Greater Wards Corner Partnership have worked to remove this predatory scourge from our neighborhood. No one has worked harder in the Partnership than Elyse Kalfus, President of the Greater Wards Corner Business Association, to bring to the attention of our elected representatives in Richmond the atrocities that Payday Lenders perpetrate on the financial health of our community.
Pilot Online reports that the General Assembly today approved restrictions on payday lending that include an interest rate ceiling and limits on the number of loans to individuals.
After years of negotiations, the legislation was approved and is being sent to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.
The compromise limits borrowers to one loan at a time and no more than five short term loans in 180 days. At the end of that period, a person who has trouble making payments can ask for a 60-day extended payment period.
Once someone who has trouble paying the loans completes their payments, they are not allowed to get another payday loan for 90 days.
If someone borrows five different times over 180 days and has no trouble making payments, that person has to wait 60 days for a new loan.
The bill sets a 36 percent cap on interest charges. It also creates a database to track loans and borrowers. The database would start next year.
Wards Corner Now - Wards Corner, Norfolk, Virginia 
Great job Elyse! Your long hard work has paid off and we will all be better off with the end result!