Mullins woman gets help with debt, thanks to GMA

Using the opening line "Desperate times call for desperate measures," Chris Cuomo opened his Tuesday morning segment on Good Morning America, a segment that featured a Mullins woman and a Virginia women and their indebtedness to pay day lending agency, Advance America.

Laura White, 66, speaking on the "GMA Gets Answers: high cost of payday loans," after being interviewed from her home, said she lives on her $575 per month Social Security check. She said a couple of years ago, her car broke down. She made her way from Mullins to Marion and got a short term $300 loan from Advance America's Cash Advance. She was to pay back the loan as soon as her check arrived, at about 163 percent annual interest.

Before she could pay off that loan, she was short again on money for bills, so she returned, and the cycle of paying on the loan began. "We need the money, so we go get it," she said. "We're hooked ... This little town is hooked...," White shared with the millions viewing the show this morning.

In over two years, White has paid $1,000 in fees to renew the same loan, Cuomo said. According to the story, there are at least 19 million people in America who have taken out pay day loans. It's a desperate cycle , Cuomo, GMA co-host Diane Sawyer and Jean Ann Fox, with the Consumer Federation of America, said.

And year after year, South Carolina legislators debate what to do about pay day lenders. Did they do anything this year about them? I've sort of lost touch with their debate in the state.

The pay day lenders have the consumers in a cycle of debt, on a treadmill. And the industry counts on repeat business, Fox said. For the Virginia woman, her $750 initial loan was made at an interest rate of 365 percent. "I agreed to it ... She made it sound good." After paying faithfully on the loan, the woman owes $900 on the original $750 loan.

Of the 50, 35 states allow pay day lending with no caps on interest rates, the story said. South Carolina is among the 35. Jamie Fulmer, Public Relations Director with Advance America, was interviewed on the segment, saying people need more loan options, not fewer.

The good news? The company has renegotiated the two women's accounts, Cuomo said, allowing White to work out an arrangement that allows her to pay back $20 a month. The other account has a greatly reduced interest rate.

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