Louisiana short term lenders create competition, better business environment

The state of Louisiana has one of the nation's highest concentrations of short term lenders, WDSU-TV reports. According to the Louisiana Budget Project, the short term lending, cash checking and pawn shop industries have doubled in the state in the past decade, as thousands of people continue to live paycheck-to-paycheck. While many view these industries with disdain because of the typically high interest rates that come with the loans, state representative Jeffrey Arnold believes Louisiana has done a good job regulating the fees. "We have laws in the state of Louisiana that deal with how much they can charge for fees, what kind of notices they need to have on the walls and the size of the notices," Arnold told the news source. Arnold adds that having so many short term lending stores creates competition, and thus, a healthier business environment. Because there's already a cap on how much a lender in the state can charge, he doesn't believe any additional legislation will be added anytime soon. The Florida Courier notes that Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina and Mississippi have the highest number of short term loan shops per capita in the U.S.