GRINCHES
CONTROLLING PAY DAY LENDING INTEREST RATES

Our first Grinch list appeared on Sunday December 17, 2006 The Cleveland Plain Dealer carried a hard-hitting story by Consumer Affairs reporter Sheryl Harris. She wrote about the stealth-like theft of our consumer rights by state legislators in a lame-duck session.

With apologies to Dr. Seuss, we called our list of Northern Ohio state legislators who voted for SB 117 our Grinch list — because they stole from us just before Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

The most recent consumer measure, House Bill 545, limits interest charged by pay-day lenders to 28 percent per year. (They have been charging at the rate of more than 300 percent per year,) Some web research, with the help of Cheryl Harris, found the names of  those who voted against HB 545. With strong bipartisan support it passed the Ohio House on April 13, 2008 and the Senate on May 14.

Will our legislators be bold enough to restrict bank overdraft fees which some say are as high as pay-day lending costs, or even higher?

Grinch image © 1937—2007
Dr. Seuss Properties