Georgia is one of a handful of states where payday lending is currently illegal. This means that you won’t be able to find a payday lender or loan within the state of Georgia. Installment loans however are still legal, but the state does have certain regulations for these products.
Payday lending happens to be a heavily regulated industry. This is because of how costly and risky some payday loans can be for borrowers. Many of these loans tend to carry extremely high interest rates, and short repayment periods. This makes it very difficult to repay them on time. And if a borrower can’t repay their payday loan by the due date, they may be asked to roll over their loan to a new term.
Loan rollover means you extend the repayment period or get a brand new repayment period. This may sound like a good thing if you can’t afford to repay the loan, but it leads many borrowers into a cycle of debt. When a lender offers to roll your loan over they will also be adding more interest and fees as well. And if you couldn’t afford to repay the initial principal and interest, odds are you’ll have a difficult time repaying it later when the amount is even higher.
The high APRs, short repayment periods, and potential for multiple rollovers are why some states choose to regulate payday loans—or ban them entirely. Georgia is one of those states.
If you live in Georgia and need a quick cash loan for an emergency, there may be other options. The best way to handle a situation like this, if you have bad credit, would be to consider borrowing from a friend or family member, call a credit union to see if they’ll work with you, or look into installment loan options.
Installment loans are often still available to borrowers with poor credit. Plus, they allow borrowers more time to repay their loan, usually over the course of several months or even a couple of years in some cases.
