If the Senate passes the bill, payday lending stores such as Cashland would be limited on the amount they are allowed to charge for loans. House Bill 545, which recently passed through the state senate, would institute a 28 percent cap on annual percentage rates for payday loans — known for APRs exceeding 300 percent. Scott said there are no hidden costs or late fees in his industry — only a charge for insufficient funds if the company cashes a customer’s check after their payday and the check bounces. Suzanne Gravette Acker, spokeswoman for the Ohio Coalition for Responsible Lending, said payday lending products are designed to trap people least likely to afford them. While most lenders said their average customers take out four to seven loans each year, Gravette Acker said the coalition found the average borrower actually uses the product between 11 and 12 times annually because they seek loans from more than one store. Thankfully, as a result of pressures from the victims of payday lenders and their advocates such as the Center for Responsible Lending, the Diocesan Social Action Office, myself and others and, importantly, the bipartisan concensus reached in the Ohio Assembly to end the predatory lending practices of Ohio payday lenders means that families such as the one whom I encountered on that day last summer in front of a payday lending establishment can wipe their tears away knowing they will no longer be subject to the economic exploitation and oppression these payday lenders engage in against some of our state’s most vulnerable working citizens and families. Read More