Loan limits still undefined

After voting to restrict short term loans eight months ago, Wisconsin has yet to agree on who is covered by the law, which has left a few doors open to allow lenders to escape regulations, reports the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. To combat these loopholes, a legislative committee recently told the Department of Financial Institutions to rewrite the proposed administrative rules to make sure lenders that weren't meant to fall under the law are excluded. According to the publication, the law is meant to only govern short term loans and not installment loans and other types of short-term lending.  Wisconsin's new law prohibits short term loans from being renewed more than once, limits loans to a maximum of $1,500, restricts where short term lenders can open up shop and bans auto-title loans. The restrictions took effect January 1, but the law won't be fully implemented until the administrative rules are adopted. Lawmakers in Missouri are in the process of writing a short term loan bill with similar provisions to those in Wisconsin, reports the Columbia Daily Tribune. The bill will also include many provisions acceptable to the lending industry, says the news source. The eight-member group in the state's House of Representatives has been meeting with reps from the short term loan industry as it begins crafting the bill, but will soon hold public hearings on the issue.