Can payday loans be filed under bankruptcy?

In Missouri, it is likely that a debtor would be allowed to discharge the loan, unless, of course, as the Maryland attorney states, the loan was taken "in consideration of bankruptcy."  If you have the thought in your head that "I am not going to be able to repay this loan" and/or "I am going to file bankruptcy on this loan that I am about to take out" then the loan is fraudulent and cannot be discharged.  If you took out the loan within the 90 days preceding bankruptcy, it's a pretty good indication that you probably took out the loan with no intention of paying it back.  If you hired a bankruptcy lawyer shortly after you took out the loan (less than 90 days after), this too might be an indication that you did not intend to repay the loan at the time you accepted the money.   

If, on the other hand, you took out the loan, tried to pay it back, realized you could not, then (more than 90 days later) contacted an attorney, and then filed bankruptcy, the payday loan will almost certainly be discharged.  In Missouri, it is likely that the "original" date of the loan will be controlling, rather than the contract-generated renewal date. 

Obtaining a cash loan less than 90 days before filing creates a presumption that it was taken out in anticipation of bankruptcy.  From a practical standpoint, I would extend this a bit, and say that retaining a bankruptcy attorney less than 90 days after you obtain a loan is also strong evidence that you never intended to repay the loan.  In certain limited situations, it may be possible to overcome the protests of the loan company; for example, if you took out the loan, and then after you took it out, lost your job without warning. 

Loans made within a short period (certainly 90 days) of bankruptcy generally aren't included in the filing as they are considered taken in anticipation of bankruptcy.  Specifically, payday loans are written in such a way that they actually renew every 30 days or so and therefore become entirely new loans (this is one of the main ways they get much higher than stated interest rates); consequently, they technically can't be discharged.

However, because of the abusive nature of these loans, a number of judges/courts are simply looking past all this and are allowing them to be included in the filing based on the "original" date that started the chain of loans.

Bottom line, whether or not these loans are dischargeable depends on how your situation is presented to the judge and just what specific court you are in.  Even when it is allowed the loan company can and will protest.  Again whether or not they will prevail it up to the discretion of the judge/court.