59 payday lenders call a halt, McDaniel says

Will be watching to make sure, he states

By David Smith

All but one of the 60 payday lending companies that were told last month to stop making high-interest loans have stopped the practice, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said Tuesday.

Fifty-two responded to McDaniel by his April 4 deadline, indicating they have discontinued offering payday loans above Arkansas' constitutional 17 percent annual interest limit. On the basis of reports from consumers, seven other companies also stopped the practice, McDaniel said. The 59 companies represent 154 of the 156 stores that McDaniel targeted in a March 18 letter.

"It's important to say that this is not a declaration of victory," McDaniel said at a news conference in Little Rock. "'Trust but verify' will be the watchwords for our office as we go forward. In the coming days and weeks, we will be working to determine the accuracy of the representations that have been made to us."

McDaniel declined to say how he will verify that the stores have stopped the practice. And he has set no deadline on his office for ensuring compliance.

For more information see today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

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