CLOUT Seeks To Limit Payday Loan Interest Rates

A local organization is seeking to limit interest rates for payday lenders.The organization Citizens of Louisville Organized and United Together, or CLOUT, will hold a meeting Monday to look at the issues surrounding payday lending.Specifically, the group hopes to cap lenders' interest rates at 36 percent. Some lenders in the commonwealth charge up to 400 percent APR on payday loans.Legislation recently passed the General Assembly that would establish a database of lenders and enforce the limit on the number of loans they could give, but did not address interest rates. CLOUT co-president Bishop Walter Jones says rates must be controlled, and the group hopes to work with lawmakers on legislation to that effect."We're working to bring the Governor on board," he says. "Also the Attorney General Jack Conway, he has agreed to work with us."Jones hopes to have the legislation introduced in the 2010 session of the General Assembly.