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Hagan: We were hoodwinked
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Rep. Robert F. Hagan, D-Youngstown. (AP Photo/Larry Phillips)
By Marc Kovac
The lawmaker from Youngstown admitted he was embarrassed.
COLUMBUS — A Democratic state lawmaker who sponsored legislation last session to limit high-interest payday lending said Wednesday he was embarrassed that the storefront lenders continue to operate throughout Ohio.
“The process was supposed to be a significant change, to bring [the annual percentage rate charged down] to 28 percent,” said Rep. Bob Hagan of Youngstown, D-60th. He added, “I think we were hoodwinked by a lot of people.”
Hagan was one of the primary sponsors on a bipartisan bill that would have capped interest at about 36 percent, in line with what the federal government already has instituted on military borrowers.
Ultimately, a Republican-sponsored bill was passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Ted Strickland that, among other provisions, capped the annual percentage rate charged on short-term loans at 28 percent.
“I think we were hoodwinked by a lot of people. There was a wink and a nod, and the Republicans said well we’ll do it, we’ll go down to 28 percent and cut Hagan and the rest of them right out. And, you know, Bill Batchelder and I were sponsors of it, and we found out that we were used a little bit.”
Lenders have skirted the new law by obtaining licenses under other two laws — the Small Loan Act and the Mortgage Loan Act.
A report released this week by the Housing Research and Advocacy Center, a Cleveland-based nonprofit, noted that more than 1,000 payday lenders are still in business in the state and charging annual percentage rates as high as 680 percent.
“They seem to have won on legal terms,” Hagan said. “But I think there will be some challenges, and all of us are working again together to try to bring it down to an honest 28 percent.”
He added, “It’s embarrassing, it’s wrong and the people of the state of Ohio have said as loud as they could that they didn’t want this type of payday lending industry to operate in the state of Ohio.”
Gov. Ted Strickland, Attorney General Richard Cordray and some lawmakers have already voiced support for new legislation dealing with the issue.
Comments
if the governor, the attorney general and other lawmakers that were in favor of the law that they supported in the last election; they should have looked over it with a fine tooth comb and they could have seen the loopholes in this law. once again lawmakers are upset with this type of payday lending industry because they are still making money legally under the guise of the law they supported in the last election. wake up lawmakers, do your job that your were elected to do: protect the OHIOIANS from unsavory businesses and businessmen/women.
I'm with terrance. The only ones who hoodwinked Hagan were his staff by not identifying gaps prior to rushing it to the floor.
Another instance of our government reps not knowing what they are doing and creating additional expense by their stupidity which taxpayers must pay for twice. How far is this going to go? How long do taxpayers have to pay for all the past financial blunders? Bernie Madoff is the biggest example of government stupidity. The SEC investigated him 6 times and found nothing wrong???? Now the SEC will claim government immunity !!!
Let he who has always balanced their checkbook on the first try cast the first stone. Only those who are perfect should bad mouth others. Give these guys a break. Lookup the Ohio Revised Code sometime and try to understand how the law is put together. And don't blame lawyers. Get real. That is like blaming a pastor for the Bible.
Hagan is useless. And by the way, what was his fat head doing in the ring during the Kelly Pavlik fight? Why not just pay to get into the fight like everyone else did, tightwad.
Hagan is once again proving his incompetence. If he doesn't even know what is in a bill that he sponsored, then he probably didn't know what the impact of the legislation was going to be.
Next thing you know, he's going to pass another bill that will actually cap the lending rate, and then when 6,000 people are out of work, he'll claim he didn't know his bill would do that.
This issue needs to be dead. I don't care what they are. I don't care where we get them. Our state needs jobs and payday lending brings plenty of them.
The only ones hoodwinked were the voters who were told by the crooked politician that they could vote themselves insanely cheap, high risk, short-term loans. It isn't going to happen.
The only thing they will succeed in doing is eliminating jobs and increasing the bank fees in the state, as was proven by the recent FDIC study. Banning payday loans increases the average amount paid in checking account fees from $200 to a bit over $500 -- for EVERYONE, not just payday loan consumers.
This law even gives financial breaks to non-profits and depository institutions to offer these loans -- but they aren't dumb enough to try. It can't be done.
Mr. Hagen and his anti-consumer friends should find some other way to get their names in the paper. I'm tired of this one.
Another example of idiot elected officials passing laws on an industry they know nothing about. These are the people who write the law, pass it and take credit. Then because they don't know what they are doing, nothing changes. If they want to pass laws related to banking, loans etc. Change the banking industry charging large fees for over drafts. They charge for each transaction. They take the largest transaction first. Then they go after the small ones hitting you for each one. But when you deposit funds into the bank, they wait five business days, charge a fee to cash checks, payroll, government checks etc. They even charge fees to cash checks drawn on their own bank.
Then there are the ATM fees, they charge you on the bank atm used and then on your account in your bank. Interesting, the elected officials never pass any laws limiting them or lowering fees banks charge. Hagan and the others are a joke, and owned by the banks. their solution is to go after Pay day loan industry.
I agree with 'geburton' 110%. Not only were the voters 'hoodwinked and bamboozled', so were the jurors at Jim Traficant's trial. This is one of the main reasons why the career politicians in D.C. had to 'politically whack', JT. He was the only voice of the people, in the valley, in the state and in the nation. As a nation, we are way over due for a second revolution, get back soon Jim 'GW' Traficant.