Wisconsin board members reluctant to add short term loan store

Despite worries from the Waukesha, Wisconsin, Common Council about adding a high interest-rate short term loan store in its town, a permit was recently approved for The Cash Store at the Shoppes in Fox River, Waukesha Patch reports. While the majority of the town's plan commission recommended denying the permit, assistant city attorney Miles Eastman explained that they had no grounds for denial. "I believe council would be violating the law to not grant the permit," Eastman said, as quoted by the news source. No city ordinances or zoning laws would be broken by adding the short term loan store, and many plan commission members didn't want to "expose the city to litigation and additional costs" by contesting the permit. While high interest rates from short term lenders are a concern, the state's Supreme Court recently agreed to vote on allowing judges to determine when short term rates are too high. The ruling stems from the case of Onalaska resident Jesica Mount, who incurred interest rates as high as 1,338 percent from Short term Loan Stores of Wisconsin in 2008, the Beloit Daily News reports.