Ohio lawmakers looking to clamp down on payday lenders again

Say lenders have found ways around interest rate caps enacted last November

News Director M.L. Schultze Tom Allio, consumer advocate Other options: Realplayer / Windows Media / MP3 Download (0:11) Jeniffer Mooney, spokeswoman for payday load industry Other options: Realplayer / Windows Media / MP3 Download (0:13)

Ohio lawmakers are likely to try again to clamp down on payday lenders, saying they've found a way to skirt caps on interest rates.

Ohio law sets the maximum interest rates for the short-term loans at 28% - less than a tenth of what the lenders used to charge. But Tom Allio, a consumer advocate from Akron, says lenders have come up with a series of fees that, in essence, come close to the old interest rates.

"I don't think anyone other than the payday lenders could have envisioned a scheme that has kept about a thousand stores open to prey upon Ohio consumers," Allio said.

But Jennifer Mooney, a spokeswoman for the payday loan industry, says the lenders are providing an increasingly needed service.

"The use of these loans from the general public, the Ohio public and consumers, is way up with the down economy and it appears that they're going to cripple what the industry is doing for Ohio consumers right now," she said.

Voters endorsed the payday caps last November. State Senator Matt Lundy of Elyria is proposing a new law that caps interest rates and restricts fees.