By Don Baylor, Jr.
Payday and auto title loans are unaffordable for most Texans who use these products.
First, Texans pay about 50-75 percent more than people in other states, with Texas short-term loans being the most expensive in the U.S.
Second, most Texans are unable to pay back these loans when they are due, with a sizable share of consumers needing to “roll over” or refinance these loans several times. Finally, too many Texans have had their automobiles repossessed through high-cost auto title loans, with about 95 vehicles per day being surrendered through these transactions.
Under current law, both the amount of the fees as well as the frequency of fee charges are unlimited.
Texans who need payday and auto title loans should be getting a fair deal. To get help get us there, I submitted written testimony this week to the Senate Business and Commerce Committee and proposed limited the fee amount and how many times the fee can be charged. Read the full testimony that I submitted here.
