The president of one local payday loan company is speaking out against that payday loan high-interest assembly bill that went to the Nevada Senate on Thursday.

The bill, AB-478, would mandate that companies only charge their highest interest rates for only 90 days, then lower the interest rate to prime-plus ten percent. Some of those companies currently charge as much as five, six, or seven hundred percent.

Carl Hull is President of Advanced Payday Loans and Check Cashing in Reno. He says AB-478 would hurt the industry and the consumers. He explains that his business helps people consolidate multiple payday loans into payments spread over a year.

He says if this bill becomes law, for certain people, payments could only be consolidated for over three months. He admits this plan simply doesn’t work for consumers.

Hull says the payday loan bill would also negatively impact the lending industry. He says without being able to consolidate loans over a year for a segment of customers, lenders could be forced into bankruptcy.

If the bill passes, Hull says interest rates as high as more than seven-thousand percent could still be charged on certain short-term loans.

The bill made its way to the Senate floor, but on Thursday afternoon, Senator Randolph Townsend asked that the bill be placed back on the back burner, so that wording could be changed.

The Senate is scheduled to vote on AB-478 on Friday, May 25th…during their morning session.

Joe Harrington, KOLO 8 News