More on Payday Loans

Last night Mike and I went to a meeting on a proposed payday loan ordinance at a local church in Oregon City and I have to tell you that the issue has been on my mind ever since.

This morning while driving to work I counted close to a dozen payday loan/title loan/cash checking stores along McLoughlin. Perhaps this shouldn't have come as a surprise as there are actually more payday loan stores in Oregon than McDonald's (a statistic we learned last night), but nevertheless I had never noticed just how many of these effectively unregulated stores dot the landscape.

So what will this proposed city ordinance do? And why is Mike, a candidate for the state House, getting involved in a local issue?

You can take a look at the draft of the ordinance online, but quickly, the proposed regulation would mandate that the five payday loan stores in Oregon City -- each of which is owned by an out-of-state corporation -- would:

1. Allow borrowers pay back principal in addition to interest (like a home loan or most any other loan).
   
2. Allow borrowers to have a payment plan if they are unable to pay back the loan when it comes due (so people are not forced into bankruptcy -- or into more loans -- just to pay off a payday loan).
   
3. Allow borrowers to return the loan within 24 hours (which is just good common sense).

The purpose of the ordinance, and indeed all proposed regulations of the industry in Oregon, is not to punish the people who own payday loan stores. In fact, each of these regulations -- which are common in many other states around the country -- would still allow the industry to be profitable.

As to the second question -- why Mike is getting involved in a local issue when he's running for the state legislature -- the answer is simple. As a lifelong resident of Clackamas County, Mike cares deeply about the vitality of the community. And whether action is needed in Salem or here in Oregon City, Mike will stand up for the people of this district.