Texas Dems Try To Make Payday Lending Election Issue
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The tales of woe are many from those who have lived from paycheck to paycheck only to fall into a cycle of taking one payday loan after another to make ends meet, and Texas Democrats hope to lay that anguish at the feet of Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott.
Abbott's Democratic competitor Wendy Davis claims Abbott is responsible for a 2006 interpretation of a consumer loan law that allowed payday lenders to charge fees as high as 25 percent of a loan's value. The number of lenders in Texas has since boomed.
The letter written by First Assistant Attorney General Barry McBee says the law and a federal court decision allows the exorbitant fees.
Abbott has received $179,000 in campaign donations since 2009 and Davis $10,500.
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