Leadpile’s Blog

Payday loan lenders are not going to be happy with the Wisconsin governor because of a recent bill he just passed. Unfortunately, this governor felt the need to pass a payday loan bill that will put tighter restrictions on the payday loan industry. In addition, he even threw something in the bill that is also going to put restrictions on the auto title loan industry too.
Each of these states putting more and more regulations on payday loans is going to leave consumers with no resources to help them. Where are consumers going to go now, in order to get help with small unexpected bills that come up?

Wisconsin, a state that has until recently not regulated payday loans has now restricted lending. Payday lenders are now restricted to limiting the loans to $1,500 or 35% of the consumers monthly income whichever is less. The borrower will only be able to renew the loan once. Auto title loans will be limited to half the value of a vehicle. Title lenders will be required to notify borrower before seizing their vehicles, the borrower can be charged a storage fee for the repossessed vehicle. If the vehicle is sold for more than the amount of the loan, the consumer is entitled to cash back from the sale.

Changes to the Wisconsin Payday lending industry could be very close. A vote by the Assembly Committee 6-5 supports the bill that would place restrictions that would cap Payday loans at $600 allowing borrowers to only take out one Payday loan at a time. Auto title loans will no longer be offered when/if this bill passes. A vote to pass this bill could happen as quickly as next Tuesday. Concerns have been raised about a $1 fee for each transaction to pay for statewide database to track the loans. According to the Associated Press, Republicans argued the bill was flawed and the public should have more time to consider the plan unveiled late last week. Leadpile will be watching….

Payday loan providers know that this the big season is just around the corner for them and they are willing to put in a fight to make sure that no one interferes with that. Every state has their own rules and regulations when it comes to getting a payday loans. One thing that they all have in common is that they all have interest rate caps, all except for Wisconsin that is. Currently, “Wisconsin remains the only state in the nation that doesn’t regulate an industry that lends money for two weeks at a time, frequently extends balances for big fees, and winds up getting as much as 520 percent interest on its loans.”
Payday loans are meant to provide individuals with fast cash and it is expected to be paid back fast as well. They are not meant to be used time and time again, but rather as a one time quick fix. There only becomes an issue when the consumer takes out loan after loan that they know that they will not be able to pay back in a timely manner.
So would a interest cap rate hurt or help the payday loan industry of Wisconsin? In most cases it would probably stay neutral. Many lenders believe that it would create more bounced checks where in fact, if they were to just look at statistical data from other state lenders, they would see how there was not an increase in bounced checks.