The Ohio Mortgage Loan Act governs lenders who make unsecured loans and loans secured by real estate or other personal property. The maximum rate is 25 percent with no loan amount limit.

But both of those laws allow lenders to charge origination fees that would increase the annual percentage rate. For example, lenders under the Small Loan Act can charge a fee of $15 or 1 percent of the loan amount _ whichever is greater _ for loans of $500 or less.

Fort Worth, Texas-based Cash America International Inc. will offer an alternative short-term loan under the Ohio Mortgage Loan Act. Spokeswoman Yolanda Walker said it is not an attempt to go around the election results.

“We just can’t go with the 28 percent rate cap, so we will try this and see how it works,” she said.

We’ll know soon enough whether this is a profitable alternative.