In response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau‘s recent request for comments on payday lending, Ohio legal aid advocates, led by OPLC attorney Linda Cook, recently teamed up to write and submit comments on the state of payday lending in Ohio.

Ohio advocates’ comments focused on Ohio’s failure to prevent payday lending, despite bipartisan legislation and a successful ballot initiative that were designed to prevent the practices in Ohio.

According to the legal aid group:

“Despite legislation and ratification by Ohio citizens, payday lending remains alive and well in Ohio. No lender holds a license under the Short Term Loan Act. Lenders engaging in the business of short term, small dollar loans have instead sought licensing under other provisions of the Ohio Revised Code that were on the books prior to the now-repealed 1995 legislation that opened the door to payday lending in Ohio.”

The group’s comments cite a recent report by Policy Matters Ohio, which found that “payday loans are similar to, if not worse than, before the legislative changes from 2008, because lenders are not operating under the new law. Stores are still selling high-cost, short-term, two-week loans.”

The legal aid advocates explain in their comments that Ohio’s experience with trying, and failing, to eliminate payday lending illustrates “the pervasiveness of both storefront and internet payday lending, and the entry of conventional banking into the short term, small dollar loan market….”

Click here to read a PDF copy of the legal aid advocates’ comments on payday lending.