Two payday lending businesses in Baxter County have complied with an Arkansas Attorney General’s Office order and surrendered its state licenses, according to a recent payday lending report. Two Mountain Home stores, Cash Mart and Mountain Home Quick Cash, surrendered their licenses in April after Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel ordered all 156 licensed and regulated payday lending stores in the state to stop unfair lending practices, according to a comprehensive report released Wednesday by the coalition Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Lending. The businesses that surrendered their licenses are not necessarily ordered to close and may be offering check cashing or other services, said Gabe Holmstrom, spokesman for the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office. Payday loans in Arkansas typically are small loans made for about two weeks and are repaid at a rate equivalent to 372 to 869 percent annually, according to the AAAPL. In March, the AG’s Office sent letters ordering the businesses to stop making high-interest loans after two Arkansas Supreme Court decisions stated payday lenders charging more than the 17 percent annual interest rate were violating the state constitution. Read More