Credit Is Too Expensive From Payday Lenders Says Arkansas

The Arkansas state attorney general in is shutting down predatory payday lending offices, saying the fees charged are a danger to the state and against the law.

"It is the position of this office that you must cease and desist your payday lending practices," Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said in the letters.

"These businesses have made a lot of money on the backs of Arkansas consumers, mostly the working poor," McDaniel said in a statement. "Charging consumers interest in the range of 300 to 500 percent is unlawful and unconscionable and it is time that it stops."

McDaniel acted after the Arkansas state Supreme Court ruled the high interest rates charged by payday lenders violate the state constitution and the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.