Texas House passes short term loan disclosure bill

The Texas House of Representatives recently passed a bill that will require short term and auto loan title lenders to make more detailed disclosures about interest rates and fees to consumers making credit decisions, according to the Texas Tribune. However, the House first removed some of the proposed disclosures before approving the modified bill. Republican state representative Vicki Truitt, who is sponsoring three bills aimed at further regulating the short-term loan industry, has said that she wants to reduce the reach of predators without harming legitimate operations by allowing the Texas Finance Commission to oversee consumer disclosure. However, representatives such as Gary Elkins - a Houston Republican who is in the business himself - argue that there are enough regulations in place already. "I do not think the consumer credit commissioner is the proper authority to regulate this industry," Elkins said, as quoted by the news source. "We are so heavily regulated that the customers walk out with 20 pages of legal disclosures now. … All (the regulations) are is mostly an impediment to business." A bill that would have removed a provision allowing borrowers to receive a pro-rated refund of paid fees when taking out a six-month loan was recently defeated by the Senate Local Government Committee in Colorado, according to the Colorado Independent.