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Senate backs bill to regulate check‑cashing and payday lenders, bans mobile units and limits rollovers
Summary
Senate Bill 57 would register check‑cashing/payday businesses with the Department of Financial Institutions, require visible signage of rates and complaint numbers, outlaw mobile cashing units and cap loan rollover at 12 weeks; the bill advanced to third reading with unanimous support (21‑0, 8 absent).
Senator Maine presented Senate Bill 57, a bipartisan effort to regulate check‑cashing and payday‑loan establishments, citing complaints from seniors and advocacy groups and examples of extremely high effective interest rates. "Senate Bill 57 for the first time puts a regulation on an industry that has never been regulated in the state of Utah," Maine said, outlining registration, signage and oversight requirements.
Key floor provisions included mandatory registration with the Utah Department of Financial Institutions, visible disclosure of rates and a complaint phone number, prohibition on mobile units that travel to job sites, and a limit on the rollover/compounding of short‑term loans to 12 weeks. The sponsor said the changes were intended to protect vulnerable consumers — particularly seniors — from rollovers that can turn a $500 loan into a $2,000 obligation.
After a floor discussion and roll call, the presiding officer announced Senate Bill 57 had 21 aye votes and moved to the third‑reading calendar with no recorded nay votes and eight senators absent.
