11/6/2008 6:03:00 AM
Pay day lending future
looks doubtful in Ohio
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BY KIRK DOUGAL
Times Bulletin Editor
kdougal@timesbulletin.com
On the day after the election, the will of the voters is just beginning to be felt by those affected by the Ohio ballot decisions.
Issue # 5 was a referendum on a law dealing with the so-called Pay Day Lending industry. An affirmative vote on the issue upheld the law passed earlier this year that capped annual percentage rates at 28 percent and limited the number of times a customer could use Pay Day Loan services to four times per year. Advocates claimed that the law protected people who were being taken advantage of because of their economic situations.
"Ohio voters stripped Pay Day lenders of their permit to fleece working people," said Bill Faith, the executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing, in a statement on Wednesday morning. He was also the treasurer of one of the groups working in favor of Issue #5.
Supporters of the Pay Day industry were asking voters to reject the referendum and return to the previous regulations. They claimed the law was one of the strictest in the nation and would make it nearly impossible for them to remain open in Ohio, costing the state as many as 6,000 jobs.
In Van Wert, Issue #5 was easily upheld, 59 percent for to 41 percent against. Statewide, the referendum agreement was even more pronounced, winning by nearly a 30 percent margin.
In response, the parent company of Cashland Lending Stores announced on Wednesday morning that they would initially be closing 43 locations around Ohio, or about 1/3 of all storefronts in operation in the state. They did not release which sites were to be closed but that it would affect about 150 employees.
Telephone calls to the Ft. Worth, Texas-based Cash America International, Inc. company by the Times Bulletin on Wednesday were not returned. Personnel at the Van Wert Cashland store were unable to comment on the vote or the future of the store, saying only that a memo from their corporate headquarters had told them not to answer any questions.
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Posted: Thursday, November 06, 2008
Article comment by:
Ray
This is an overwhelming victory for Ohio's consumers. Over 3 million Ohio voters strongly repudiated 10 years of predatory payday lending and asked for a return to fair and responsible lending! This is a good thing for Ohio's families, communities and economy!
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