Ohio payday lenders keep loaning under other laws

COLUMBUS (AP) — Payday lenders targeted by Ohio legislation that banned short-term, high-cost loans five years ago are skirting that crackdown effort by offering high-interest loans under other laws.

Some of the hundreds of storefront-lending operations closed but others have exploited loopholes and continued providing loans under laws not written with such businesses in mind, The Columbus Dispatch reported today.

Payday lenders say their services are needed, while critics contend it’s a debt trap for repeat borrowers.

There are signs that another legislative debate might emerge.

A spokeswoman for the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio said leaders hope to resurrect a group of organizations that defended the law restricting payday lending and could eventually bring forward more legislation. The group, Ohio Coalition for Responsible Lending, had included 200-plus faith-based groups, consumer advocates and others.

“We didn’t know we were dealing with an industry that was playing Whack-a-Mole,” spokeswoman Suzanne Gravette Acker said. “With industries like this, it’s going to take years. We just have to keep fighting and keep educating.”