Moratorium on Payday Loan Businesses Extended 6 Months
A moratorium on payday loan stores in Montgomery has been extended six more months.
At Tuesday’s city council meeting, seven councilmen approved the extension.
Councillor C.C. Calhoun opposed while Councillor Arch Lee recused himself from the vote.
A 90 day moratorium was approved back in September so that members of the Mayor’s cabinet could use that time to research moratoriums in other cities.
Councilman Richard Bollinger says in that three month period, they’ve observed an aggressive movement with too many payday loan and title loan stores clustering in one spot.
He says the extension will give city leaders more time to look at how these businesses affect Montgomery.
“What we’re looking for as a City Council is diverse businesses,” he says. “I think these are legitimate business. We’re not sure why they’re clustered together, particularly on two or three streets in Montgomery.”
There are two exceptions with this moratorium. Those who own payday loan stores will be able to renew existing licenses and owners will also be able to transfer business licenses to another party if they wish to do so.
