Pawn Shops under Attack

Posted On: July 27, 2010 at 10:06 a.m.

Filed Under: des moines pawn payday loan

Yesterday I reported on a story coming out of Des Moines, Iowa where lawmakers are considering the ban or reduction of payday loan lenders. Apparently, in the same city, pawn shops are also under attack. The lawmaker’s argument is that such lenders and brokers take advantage of poor and uneducated citizens. But the pawnbrokers and lenders have an argument of their own: “City leaders are examining long-term zoning changes that could require separation distances between the businesses and cap interest rates for loans made by pawnshops. [[ads]] Tom Friend, owner of A Quality Pawn and Jewelry on Army Post Road, asked commissioners to not group all pawnshops and payday lenders together. Sometimes pawnshops are the only place where people can get a loan, Friend later said.

“I think pawnshops do a service in the community,” he said. “It meets the needs of someone who can’t go into the bank and borrow money so they can pay rent and don’t end up out on the street.”

Input from Thursday’s forum and one on Aug. 5 will be used to help city staff put together an ordinance that is expected to go before the council this fall” (http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100716/NEWS/7160365/-1/duffyblog/Group-wants-Des-Moines-to-limit-pawnshops-payday-lenders). We live in a capitalist society. Should the government have the right to restrict business owners from setting up shop? Illegal practices are one thing, but eliminating an entire industry seems a bit tough. What do you think?