There are currently 684 New Mexico small loan licensees* charging 80 to 3,000 percent interest registered with the New Mexico Department of Regulation. There are only 405 New Mexico fast food locations operated by all the major and minor chains combined.**
This is the first of many astounding facts about high cost lending that the New Mexico Fair Lending Coalition (NMFLC) will publish daily beginning Wednesday, January 14, and continuing through the close of the 2015 legislative session on March 21.
Each business day a new fact illustrating how pervasive and destructive high cost lending has become in New Mexico will be distributed to every state legislator, the Governor, statewide elected officials, and the media. A running list of Daily Loan Store Facts will be compiled at our website www.loansharkattack.com.
Twenty four of New Mexico's most influential lobbyists were retained by the small loan industry last year to mislead lawmakers about the impact of loan sharks on our state. The Daily Loan Store Fact will cut through the noise with accurate and continuous information.
"Over 100,000 low income New Mexicans risk their paychecks, their welfare payments, their bank accounts, their vehicles and even their homes by borrowing from unscrupulous lenders each year" said Ona Porter, Co-Chair of the NMFLC. "The Daily Loan Store fact is one way we hope to keep legislators and the public aware of the epidemic of high cost loan abuse that has overwhelmed New Mexico."
"No area of New Mexico State Statute is as out of step with the public’s welfare and public opinion as New Mexico Small Lending law" added NMFLC activist Mikki Anaya. "There are no limits on interest and fees for most loan products even though six out of seven New Mexicans favor interest and fee caps of 36% or less. Exhaustive independent studies from government agencies, financial counseling organizations, and consumer advocates confirm the financial devastation that high cost loans leave in their wake."
The NMFLC is supporting proposals for 36% interest and fee caps on all New Mexico state regulated loans during the 2015 legislative session. Rep Gail Chasey, HB 36, Rep Patricia Caballero, HB 24, and Senator Bill Soules, SB 72, have pre-filed bills. Similar caps are already in place for active US Military personnel and in a growing number of states.
*NM Department of Regulation and Licensing Financial Institutions Website, small loan companies page. http://www.rld.state.nm.us/financialinstitutions/Small_Loan_Companies.aspx
**Manta.com business directory. http://www.manta.com/mb_45_C432C08J_32/fast_food_restaurant_chain/new_mexico