3 Payday Licenses to Be Revoked

Columbus Dispatch 
February 4, 2010
Siegel, Jim

The state of Ohio intends to yank the lending licenses of three payday lenders: Check into Cash in Toledo, Quik Cash in Cleveland, and 1st Choice Financial in Washington Court House. The three outlets require check-cashing fees as part of the loans they provide, refusing borrowers the right to cash the check elsewhere. House Bill 209, which is being reworked, would limit annual interest rates at 28 percent for loans under $1,000 issued for less than 90 days. After Ohio initially capped the interest rate in 2008, about half of the state's 1,600 payday lending stores closed; but many found a way around the interest rate cap by using origination, credit-verification, and check-cashing fees to charge just as much. The bill has been waiting in committee for eight months. "We have not yet reached consensus on the right approach," conceded House Speaker Armond Budish (D-Beachwood). "I believe the voters spoke and want to see changes made in the payday lending status." Bill Faith, executive director of the Ohio Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, agreed. "The voters weighed in. We couldn't have a more vetted policy," he remarked. "To go back and say we want to keep payday lenders operating in much the same way they've operated historically is ridiculous to me."

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