COHHIO Advocacy Issues Archives

COHHIO's most recent successes include:

  • COHHIO successfully led efforts to protect the $53 million Ohio Housing Trust Fund from budget raids during the Ohio General Assembly’s drafting of the 2011-2012 biennial budget bill. Ohio’s multi-billion dollar deficit led many to speculate that OHTF funds would be shifted to the state’s general fund.
  • COHHIO helped establish the FOCUS (Foreclosures in Ohio Cost Us) Coalition, a 20-member group dedicated to foreclosure reform. Efforts began in 2008 to push legislation that would prevent unnecessary foreclosures and protect tenants whose landlords were foreclosed on. HB 3 and HB 9 passed the House in May 2009 and sat idle in the Senate for more than a year, despite repeated calls for hearings on the issues.
  • COHHIO was instrumental in helping bring a total of $571 million in federal dollars to Ohio to help reduce foreclosures. COHHIO worked closely with Sen. Sherrod Brown and the Ohio Congressional delegation on federal advocacy efforts. Known as the Hardest Hit Funds, the $571 million (delivered in three disbursements) is being administered by OHFA. COHHIO, through FOCUS, now helps facilitate efforts among home ownership counselors and OHFA to improve efficacy of the HHF program.
  • COHHIO was the lead organization behind State Issue 5, a payday lending industry-led referendum. Despite being outspent by about $20 million, COHHIO and the YES on Issue 5 committee won by a margin of nearly two to one at the polls in November 2008, thus affirming the Short Term Lender Law and the 28 percent rate cap.
  • COHHIO was chief consumer architect of the 2008 Short Term Lender Law, which capped payday lending interest rates at 28 percent annualized interest, down from 391 percent.
  • COHHIO became a lead organization within the Governor's Interagency Council on Homelessness and Affordable Housing, overseeing the work that will lead to a plan to reduce homelessness and increase affordable housing in the state. In July 2009, the Council accepted a goal of creating 6,000 additional units of permanent supportive housing by 2014.
  • In 2009, COHHIO brought an additional $3.2 million into the state's rural counties through the successful submission of the annual CoC Homeless Assistance Programs application on behalf of the Ohio Balance of State Continuum of Care (BOSCOC). These funds will help ensure that homeless, disabled individuals and families access and maintain safe, secure, and affordable housing with needed supportive services. 
  • COHHIO was the chief architect of the Ohio Homebuyers’ Protection Act, one of the strongest anti-predatory lending measures in the county. 
  • COHHIO was the lead advocate behind the Housing Trust Fund Fee, which created a dedicated funding stream for the Ohio Housing Trust Fund (currently $53 million/year).

Payday Lending Reform

In the summer of 2008, the Ohio General Assembly passed HB 545, the 28 percent payday lending rate cap law. That November, Issue 5 passed at the polls by a margin of two to one and affirmed the 28 percent rate cap law. In an effort to protect consumers from abusive lending products, COHHIO will continue to closely monitor the payday lending industry in Ohio.  Ohio newspaper editorial boards will also be watching. Read what they had to say about lenders sidestepping the Short Term Lender Law.

Editorials and news articles:

Ohio Newspapers and Others Plead with Lawmakers to Close the Payday Lending Loopholes

 

 

More Information:

  • Trapped in Debt: County after County PDF — A County-by-County Payday Lending Impact Report, By The Ohio Coalition for Responsible Lending County Specific Reports and Press Releases
  • Trapped by Design: Payday Lending by the Numbers PDF — An analysis by the Ohio Coalition for Responsible Lending
  • Trapped in Debt: The Growth of Payday Lending in Ohio HTM — A Joint Published Report by Policy Matters Ohio and Housing Research & Advocacy Center: The number of payday lending shops in Ohio catapulted from 107 locations from 1996 to 1562 locations in 2006, a more than fourteen-fold increase in a decade, according to a report from Policy Matters Ohio and the Housing Research and Advocacy Center. The report finds that payday lending shops are now more common than McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy’s restaurants combined in Ohio.
  • Financial Quicksand: Payday Lending Sinks Borrowers in Debt PDF — The Center for Responsible Lending in North Carolina published Every year, payday lenders strip $4.2 billion in excessive fees from Americans who think they’re getting a two-week loan. Instead, they end up trapped in debt. This report finds that across the nation payday borrowers are paying more in interest -- at annual rates of up to 400 percent -- than the amount of the loan they originally borrowed.

  • The Payday Lending Debt Trap: