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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Critics: Payday Lending a “Debt Trap” for Ohioans

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Thursday, August 23, 2007   

Columbus, OH - Payday lending is coming under fire in Ohio, with growing calls for lawmakers to regulate the industry. Tom Allio, with the Ohio Coalition for Responsible Lending, says the lenders offer quick and easy loans, but a growing number of Ohioans consequently face rapidly escalating debt, with fees that amount to annual interest rates of almost 400 percent.

"We really view the payday loan industry as just as predatory as the sub-prime lending has been. They catch people in what we call a 'debt trap' from which, in many cases, they are not easily able to escape."

Allio feels state lawmakers should cap annual interest rates at 36 percent, the same standard applied by Congress to payday lenders in their dealings with members of the U.S. military. The payday lending industry opposes wider regulations, citing a high demand for its services.

Allio sees the situation in Ohio as especially dire because payday loans may spike as a result of the foreclosure crisis created by subprime mortgage lending. He says lawmakers finally stepped in to regulate predatory mortgage lenders and, in the same way, he hopes they'll work quickly to limit payday lending. He believes lawmakers should consider giving incentives to banks and credit unions to meet short-term lending needs, with better interest rates.


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