ProgressOhio

Should the Payday Lender Referendum reach the ballot this November you will have to Vote Yes to preserve the consumer protections and interest rate limits provided by H.B. 545.

Payday lenders win fight on ballot language to overturn reforms

COLUMBUS -- Chalk one up for the payday lending industry.

The lenders prevailed after hours of contentious sparring in front of the Ohio Ballot Board on Thursday as the five-member panel hashed out ballot language for a proposed repeal of payday lending reforms.

Supporters of the payday-lending regulations passed by lawmakers this year which limit payday loans to an annual percentage rate of 28 " built their case for reform" on the fact that the short-term, high-interest loans have charged annual rates as high as 391 percent.

So when lawyers for the industry were able to persuade the board to keep the 391 percent figure out of the ballot language, it was a big point for their side.

That wasn't the only victory for the lenders. The ballot board also determined they get to be the "no" side on the Nov. 4 ballot, historically an easier case to make for statewide issues. That means voters will have to cast a "yes" vote to keep the payday lending reforms intact, including the 28 percent cap, and a "no" vote if they want to roll back the law and again allow payday loans as high as 391 percent annually.

Bill Todd, an attorney representing lenders, called the 391 percent figure "part of the argument" over the issue, not a statement of fact, even though annual percentage rates(APR) are how federal law calculates loan rates made to borrowers.

"What's more accurate to say is that I take out a two-week loan for $100 and have to pay back $115, " Todd said. "I don' t believe that any of us understand what an APR is".