HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 9275 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 9275
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council July 20, 2010
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a SUBJECT: REGULATION OF PAYDAY LENDERS
Iris
The purpose of this report is to provide the City Council with requested information concerning the zoning
and regulation of payday lenders and similar businesses.
The City of Fort Worth regulates payday lenders, title loan companies, and similar establishments as a
financial institution in the Zoning Ordinance. These uses are allowed in all commercial and industrial
zoning districts. Staff considers this the correct land use classification because the general operation of
the business, i.e. financial services in an office environment, is similar to that of a bank or credit union.
The City of Fort Worth requires that the payday lending businesses comply with commercial development
standards for banks. These include: parking of four spaces per 1,000 square feet when within 250 feet of
one- or two-family residential use; bufferyard and supplemental building setback when adjacent to one- or
two-family residential use (width depends on district), typically with landscaping and a screening fence for
new construction; and a maximum 8 foot by 16 foot monument sign.
Irving and other cities in Texas, including Mesquite, Sachse, Richardson, Garland and Little Elm, have
passed regulations preventing payday lenders from expanding into new locations without a special use
permit. Most of these cities are classifying non-depository financial institutions, check cashing
business/payday advance-loan business, or a car title loan business as non-traditional banking
institutions. The regulations most commonly include the requirement that each business obtain a special
use permit and establish distance regulations from other payday lenders such as 1,000 feet from another
pay day lender business, 500 feet from highway right-of-way, and 200 feet from residential zoning.
There is no case law or attorney general opinion regarding a city's ability to regulate the location of these
businesses through zoning. Generally, zoning regulations that require distance and separation restrictions
are upheld by the courts as reasonably related to promoting the public welfare if a city can demonstrate
the regulation controls harmful secondary effects related to the restricted use. Before adopting an
ordinance, the city would need to justify the purposes for regulating payday lenders by showing the
proliferation and the negative or potentially negative secondary impacts from the number, location and/or
clustering of these businesses. The reasons would be similar to those used by the City when it adopted its
regulations for sexually oriented businesses, such as the impact that the location of these businesses
have on nearby property values, the contribution to crime, the effect on the viability of commercial areas in
which they are located, their tendency to provide for an unattractive appearance, and displacement of
conventional and traditional banks.
Several federal and state regulations have been proposed in recent years, but none have been approved.
On the federal level, H.R. 1214, called the Payday Loan Reform Act, was proposed in Congress in
February 2009 as an amendment to the Truth in Lending Act. The proposal required a payday lender to
make specified disclosures, set prohibited practices, and set cancellation procedures. The bill did not
regulate annual loan percentage rates but included a loan renewal ban.
Texas regulates payday lenders as a Credit Services Organization (CSO). In 2007, the U.S. Department
of Defense adopted a rate cap of 36 percent for military personnel and their families, and requires lenders
to make special disclosures. SB 189 was proposed in Texas in 2009 to enforce this federal law and would
have exempted banks and credit unions, while the federal law includes these depository institutions. In
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 9275
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council July 20, 2010
a SUBJ"'�T`aN Page 2 of 2
a
ECT: REGULATION OF PAYDAY LENDERS
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2009, SB 3744 was proposed during the Texas Legislative Session but was not voted upon. The bill
proposed to close a loophole in state law that allows payday and auto title lenders to operate as credit
services organizations (CSOs) and thereby avoid regulatory oversight, licensing and other consumer
protections. Separate bills were also filed to license CSOs and to allow the State of Texas to help enforce
federal interest rate caps on payday loans to the military. None of these proposed bills have been
successful to date.
Staff does not recommend an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance to change the regulation and
classification of payday lenders, since the zoning regulations are appropriate for the bank/office type of
business activity. Staff recommends continuing to support state legislative efforts to regulate these types
of financial services and the interest rate structure.
If you have any questions, please contact Susan Alanis, Planning and Development Director, at 817-392-
8180.
D e A. Fisseler, P.E.
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS