Digital Media Center
Bryant-Denny Stadium, Gate 61
920 Paul Bryant Drive
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0370
(800) 654-4262

© 2024 Alabama Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
WAPR experienced a component failure. Technicians have initiated the repair process. Thank you for your patience.

Lawmakers Consider Dueling Payday Loan Bills

payday loans

Lawmakers in both chambers of Alabama’s legislature are debating changes to payday loans in the state.

Dueling bills in both the House and the Senate each aim to reform short-term lending in Alabama, but they go about it in different ways.

The House proposal, among other things, would institute a so-called “cooling off” period, where recent loan borrowers wouldn’t be allowed to take out another payday loan for 48 hours. The Senate bill would lengthen the minimum term for payday loans to 30 days, and would allow borrowers the chance to restructure the loans if they’re unable to pay them off.

Shay Farley is with the Southern Poverty Law Center. She supports the Senate bill, and says the House proposal doesn’t do enough to fix the real problems with short-term lending.

“It keeps the payday loans at 14 days, which is really the heart of the problem. The maximum number of loans that a borrower will get under the House version is 22 payday loans a year, which is just exploitive. We just don’t think that that is doable for a consumer.”

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee will hear their version of the bill this morning. If it passes, it will advance to the Senate floor for debate tomorrow.

News from Alabama Public Radio is a public service in association with the University of Alabama. We depend on your help to keep our programming on the air and online. Please consider supporting the news you rely on with a donation today. Every contribution, no matter the size, propels our vital coverage. Thank you.