Star Tribune
What appeared a likely reform of controversial payday lenders at the Minnesota Legislature fell apart at the close of 2014 session. This year, it didn’t even get out of the starting blocks.
This is a setback for a coalition of community and religious groups who demanded concessions and who produced hard-pressed customers who said a several-week loan of $350 or so, led to more loans that critics say puts desperate borrowers in a “debt spiral” of compounding, triple-digit interest charges and fees.
The Minnesota House last year, in DFL hands, passed a bill favored by the Dayton administration and the Minnesota Department of Commerce. But advocates and industry lobbyists could not find common ground. And the Senate passed.
