The costs for the cremation of a loved one following their passing may be due for an increase for residents in an Illinois county, as a new requirement for coroner reviews could lead to an added fee.

While the increased cost may be handled easily for some families, they may be more difficult for families who turn to the burial method as a means to reduce funeral costs.

The fee increases are part of a new proposal from Franklin County Coroner Dan Blasdel, who is requesting that a new stipulation be added that requires all deaths to be reviewed by a coroner before they are cremated, according to the News Tribune.

Currently, not all deaths need to be reported to the county coroner. Blasdel said the proposal would help to determine accidental deaths that may be regarded a "natural" death if not examined properly. However, along with each review would also come a $50 fee that is charged by the county.

Because cremations are known as a more cost effective way to respectively honor the passing of a loved one – they can cost close to $1,000 while funerals can cost upwards of $5,000 – many families who utilize it may be already somewhat strapped for cash and unable to take on any extra expenses.

If help is needed to cover the cost of a cremation ceremony, a short-term loan may be able to cover expenses until the next payday.

Illinois payday loan services are coming under fire from protestors who unfairly characterize the short-term monetary solutions as "predatory" while underestimating their use to those who use them.

Following a recent protest at and Advance America payday lender located in Decatur, Illinois led by a local interest group, a spokesman for the lending service spoke out against the manipulative tactics that were being used to vilify short-term lenders and ignore the benefits they provide.

"I think it’’s extremely unfortunate that this group continues to use their bullying tactics to threaten, bully and intimidate our customers, who have made a fully informed choice to use our services because they are oftentimes the most transparent option and the most simple and convenient option," Advance America spokesman Jamie Fulmer, told the Herald-Review.com.

Responding to claims that payday lenders were deceptive in their practices in order to force consumers into debt problems, Fulmer added that consumers who utilize cash advances made "fully-informed decisions" to do so after understanding the terms and rates that came with the loans.

According to the State Journal-Register, a recent survey by the FDIC found that nearly 22 percent of Illinois residents were "underbanked," the same as the national rate.

Jamie Fulmer, the director of public affairs for Advance America, Cash Advance Centers Inc – a payday loan service – has spoken out against an article published in the Columbia Missourian that disparages both payday lenders and the customers who use them.

The article in question had been published in the Columbia Missourian in November. Among other things, it labeled payday lenders as businesses that make their money through "obscenely high interest rates," and criticized their customers as being financially uneducated.

In order to refute the article’’s claims, Fulmer wrote a letter that was published in the Missourian on Wednesday. In the letter, Fulmer referenced a recent report from the George Washington University School of Business that concluded payday loan users "generally appear to make purposive decisions" and use the short term loans "to pay unexpected expenses or expenses that could not be postponed."
Fulmer added that the article had done nothing more but attempt to stoke a political argument by stretching facts, insult a business that has been deemed legitimate by many, and "simply seeking to scare readers."

"Consumers should be smart about their money and savings, and any form of credit can be abused. But it is important to understand that payday advances can be an effective short-term option for many people," Fulmer concluded.

The city of Columbia currently has a six-month moratorium restricting any payday loan businesses from opening within its borders.

Community Financial Services Association of America chairwoman D. Lynn DeVault has come out against a recent report by the FDIC that characterized short-term loan users as "underbanked."

The response by DeVault – titled Banks can’t, and shouldn”t, compete for payday loans and published in the Cape Cod Times on Monday – was spurred by the Times’ running of an Associated Press article on December 3 about an FDIC survey on the amount of so-called "underbanked" consumers who live with little to no connection with any major bank.

Among the types of people that are lumped into the category of "underbanked" are those who utilize payday loans, which DeVault vehemently objected to.

"The FDIC mistakenly characterizes as ”underbanked” any household that has a bank account but used an alternative financial service, such as a payday loan, she wrote.

She added that the study had failed to factor in those who used payday loans and were not desperate for funding, but rather did so for other reasons such as the convenience of not having to deal with a bank.

"Just because adults with bank accounts choose to use an alternative financial service does not necessarily mean they are being underserved by their bank or are ”underbanked,”" she added.

The Community Financial Services Association of America is voicing its disapproval of a new proposal by Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear to impose rate caps on what payday lenders in the state can charge their customers.

Speaking in support of the 743 payday lenders that operate within the state, CFSAA spokesman Tres Watson said that a decision to limit the fees could put many of the businesses in financial trouble as they are unable to make a profit.

"A cap on payday transactions will drive lenders out of business," Watson told the Courier-Journal.com. "We hope the governor will look past the falsehoods peddled by our opponents and reconsider his decision."

Under the regulations being proposed by Beshear, payday lenders within the state would have to cap the interest rates they charge customers for their loans at 36 percent. While current regulations allow payday lenders to charge interest rates that have been alleged to be up to 400 percent, many have argued that attempting to measure short-term loans with tools meant to gauge annual figures leads to misleading numbers.

Additionally, lenders cannot charge more than $15 for every $100 loaned out and cannot hand out payday loans exceeding $500, meaning that initial fees cannot top $75 for a loan that is taken out.

Advocates are continuing to come out in support of payday loans despite continued attacks on the industry from groups alleging they are unnecessary.

Sarah Longwell, the communications director for the Center for Consumer Freedom, recently wrote a letter to the Osh Kosh Northwestern published on Sunday supporting payday lenders and the role they play throughout the state.

“Imposing unrealistic fee caps on payday loans to kill the industry will leave consumers – already struggling in today’s economy – without vital access to short-term credit,” Longwell wrote.

The letter was written in response to a letter published in the paper earlier this week that called payday loans “predatory” and taking advantage of consumers who may be dealing with monetary issues.

Referencing research from the U.S. Federal Reserve, Longwell said that payday loan borrowers were not unhappy, nor were they being preyed upon by lenders. Instead, she said that 88 percent of short-term borrowers were “satisfied” with their loans.

“It would be shortsighted and elitist for politicians to make snap judgments about financial services they have never needed themselves, and to prohibit financial options without thought of the consequences,” she added.

Advocates are continuing to come out in support of payday loans despite continued attacks on the industry from groups alleging they are unnecessary.

Sarah Longwell, the communications director for the Center for Consumer Freedom, recently wrote a letter to the Osh Kosh Northwestern published on Sunday supporting payday lenders and the role they play throughout the state.

"Imposing unrealistic fee caps on payday loans to kill the industry will leave consumers – already struggling in today’’s economy – without vital access to short-term credit," Longwell wrote.

The letter was written in response to a letter published in the paper earlier this week that called payday loans "predatory" and taking advantage of consumers who may be dealing with monetary issues.

Referencing research from the U.S. Federal Reserve, Longwell said that payday loan borrowers were not unhappy, nor were they being preyed upon by lenders. Instead, she said that 88 percent of short-term borrowers were "satisfied" with their loans.

"It would be shortsighted and elitist for politicians to make snap judgments about financial services they have never needed themselves, and to prohibit financial options without thought of the consequences," she added.

In the wake of yet another city looking to impose limitations on payday loan businesses, Sarah Longwell – the director of communications for the Center For Consumer Freedom – responded Wednesday with the argument that the proposed laws could hamper lenders’ ability to serve their customers.

"Borrowers are best served when they have more choices to pick from, not fewer – and an economic downturn is no time to raise costs for low-income workers," wrote Longwell in a recent editorial published Wednesday in the Des Moines Register.

The editorial was written in response to an article that had appeared in the publication on November 28 that spoke of Des Moines Councilors Christine Hensley and Brian Meyer proposal to look into zoning laws that could prohibit payday loan businesses from opening within a certain distance of each other.

Longwell is one of the more vocal opponents of city and state law proposals that would either limit the rates payday lenders can charge for their service or adjust zoning statutes to keep them from operating too close to one another.

Longwell sent a similarly worded letter sent to the Columbia Daily Tribune in Columbia, Missouri in the wake of proposed legislation to limit lenders from opening in the city in November. Additionally, Longwell also wrote a letter to the Augusta Free Press in October in objection to Attorney General candidate Steve Shannon’s proposal to cap fees that lenders can charge.

As 2009 comes to an end, many families may be finding themselves in a tight financial situation that could easily be solved by a one month “payment holiday” on their mortgage payments.

However Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta director of education Mechel Glass said that many lenders may take issue with a request for a “payment holiday,” particularly because of the risk that missing a payment could be the beginning of a road to delinquency for the homeowner.

“Some homeowners call us in December asking if they can take a ”payment holiday,” but we advise them to consider other options,” Glass said. “We know many people are stretching their budgets to pay for gifts and other holiday expenses, but it’s important that they make their mortgage payment and look elsewhere to cut expenses.”

Instead of potentially missing a mortgage payment, the CCCSGA recommends tapping emergency savings accounts or speaking to a nonprofit housing counselor to try and figure out ways to reduce spending.

However, for those who do not have a savings account to fall back on and are low on cash without even factoring in any expenses that may come with the holiday season, a payday loan may be an option to enable a mortgage payment to be made on time and avoid any risk of default or foreclosure.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said on Monday that she saw was fine with some of her political associates” decisions to lobby on behalf of the payday loan industry as legislation is being considered to save the industry from being all but exiled from the state.

According to the Associated Press, Brewer said she didn”t "see a problem with it" when asked what she thought about her associates stumping for payday lenders. She added that she was confident they "will do what’’s right for the people of Arizona."

The "associates" of Brewer who were being spoken of likely referred to Chuck Coughlin, who is the president of Arizona-based lobbying firm HighGround.

According to the AP, HighGround is one of many firms being hired by state payday lenders in an attempt to drum up support for extending a law created in 2000 and currently set to expire on June 30, 2010 that allows payday lenders to charge fees for "deferred presentment transactions" that exceed state regulations.

If the law is not extended, most payday lenders will be unable to turn a profit and could be forced to go out of business.

Former state Attorney General Grant Woods has also thrown his support behind working to keep payday loans in business around the state, telling the Yuma Sun he felt they had a place in the state for those who needed them.