The bad news is that the lenders are raising rates and taking more debtors to court.
The Utah Department of Financial Institutions released its annual report on “non-depository lenders,” which includes check-cashing stores, payday lenders and title loan companies. It appears Utahns are not walking into those businesses as much as they once did. One in five stores has closed in the last two years, and business overall is down.
So what has changed? An improving economy probably has as much to do with it as anything, but the Utah Legislature has also beefed up state oversight of an industry that has sent too many vulnerable Utahns into a debt spiral.