CARSON CITY -- Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, says her payday loan bill, signed by Gov. Kenny Guinn Tuesday, "will prevent Nevadans from being placed on a debt treadmill."
A "staggering number of people have been taken advantage of by unscrupulous businesses," she said.
Guinn signed Assembly Bill 384 and 27 other bills into law, including ones to give mobile home park residents greater protections and to require the state to seek a federal waiver to provide medical coverage for working low-income pregnant women.
The payday loan bill, to become effective July 1, limits the penalties that can be charged on delinquent loans. As was detailed in an in-depth Sun story in early March, many Las Vegas Valley residents had been taking out small loans only to wind up paying late fees and enormous interest rates. When they couldn't pay off the rapidly accumulating debt, the companies took them to court and had more penalties imposed.
The bill prohibits the addition of garnishment fees and treble damages to the late loan amounts.
There were 67,000 cases in justice courts in Clark County over late payment of these loans, Buckley said Tuesday.
Under the new law, companies must post their fees and give contracts both in English and Spanish. It also prevents a fee being added for early repayment of a loan. The measure also prohibits any loan in excess of 25 percent of the expected gross monthly income of a customer. And it requires that a customer must be given a chance to repay a loan in default before the case is taken to court.
The governor also signed Assembly Bill 340 that puts restrictions on loans to people who are expecting federal income tax return checks. This bill, to be effective Oct. 1. Anyone who makes such a loan will have to disclose the fees being charged and other information.
Assembly Bill 437, meanwhile, provides that any landlord who is forced to close his mobile home park by state or local authorities because of unsanitary conditions must pay the re-location cost of his tenants. A landlord must also inform a prospective tenant of the planned closure and there cannot be any increase in rent after the notice to close. The new requirements take effect July 1.
Also, the state Manufactured Housing Division, under Assembly Bill 427, will be licensing people who rebuild, service or install mobile homes beginning Oct. 1.
The state Department of Human Resources is directed by Assembly Bill 493 to seek a waiver from the federal government in Medicaid regulations to cover pregnant working low-income women under the federal medical care program. Buckley said there is $91 million available in federal funds the state can tap to cover the some of the costs if the waiver is granted.
The department would also ask for a waiver to allow a subsidy of $100 a month to low-income workers of employers with less than 50 employees to pay for health insurance. And a waiver also must be sought in Medicaid for persons with catastrophic illnesses. This takes effect Oct. 1.
The governor also signed Senate Bill 215 that increases the information local schools must include in the plans for improvement that they must deliver to the state Department of Education. The schools must identify the cost and name the programs they will use to improve the performance of their students. The new requirements take effect July 1.
As of Tuesday night the governor had signed 429 bills from this year's legislative session.
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