Illinois Governor Signs Payday Lender Law

WKMS | By The Associated Press

Published August 21, 2012 at 8:52 AM CDT

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has signed a new law he says will protect consumers from payday lenders. Quinn signed the law Monday. It requires lenders be licensed by the state Department of Financial and Professional Regulation or be charged with a felony. Right now the agency has licensed 522 payday lenders. The new law also protects consumers who are trapped in high-interest loans from having to pay back the debts, allowing such loans to be declared null and void. Quinn says the legislation protects consumers from what he calls unscrupulous, unlicensed lenders. The measure takes effect January 1.

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Todd Hatton

Todd Hatton hails from Paducah, Kentucky, where he got into radio under the auspices of the late, great John Stewart of WKYX while a student at Paducah Community College. He also worked at WKMS in the reel-to-reel tape days of the early 1990s before running off first to San Francisco, then Orlando in search of something to do when he grew up. He received his MFA in Creative Writing at Murray State University. He vigorously resists adulthood and watches his wife, Angela Hatton, save the world one plastic bottle at a time.

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