Salt Lake City again
April 13, 2009 | Utah, industry, local issues, regulation | Comments (0)The Salt Lake City council is moving toward a half mile limit between payday lending/check cashing stores. Why does this seem necessary in the middle of a recession?
Wait before you legislate
January 7, 2009 | Utah, industry, media coverage, regulation, states | Comments (0)That’s the advice of the Salt Lake City Tribune to the city council:
The Salt Lake City Council is about to crack down on payday lenders by prohibiting them from locating near each other. But before it does that, the council should see what kind of picture a new state law will paint about the practices of these purveyors of short-term loans with sky-high interest rates.
Sen. Karen Mayne, D-West Valley City, sponsored Senate Bill 83 last year, and it became law on May 5, 2008. It requires payday lenders, or deferred-deposit lenders, to report annually on their operations so legislators can determine whether they are providing a necessary service or fleecing poor and vulnerable Utahns who are struggling to make ends meet.
The new law will collect hard data about average loan amounts, how often loans are extended before they are paid in full, how much interest increases for subsequent loans, the minimum and maximum interest rates charged and the number of loans repaid the next day.
The impulse of legislators to act before they have a complete picture of an issue is common. Legislators frequently react to pressure not information.
