City of Albuquerque - File #: O-14-22

• File #: O-14-22
• Type: Ordinance
• Status: Enacted
• File created: 9/3/2014
• In control: City Council
• Final action: 1/21/2015
• Enactment date: 2/9/2015
• Enactment #: O-2015-002
• Title: F/S Amending The Zoning Code To Regulate Small Loan Businesses (Benton)
• Sponsors: Isaac Benton

Date	Action By	Action	Result
2/9/2015	City Clerk	Published
2/6/2015	Mayor	Signed by the Mayor
1/29/2015	City Council	Sent to Mayor for Signature
1/21/2015	City Council	Accepted with a Recommendation Do Pass (Immediate Action)
1/21/2015	City Council	Passed as Substituted	Pass
1/21/2015	City Council	Substituted	Pass
1/14/2015	Land Use, Planning, and Zoning Committee	Sent to Council for Immediate Action	Pass
1/14/2015	Land Use, Planning, and Zoning Committee	Sent to Council with a recommendation of Do Pass	Pass
9/3/2014	City Council	Introduced and Referred
9/3/2014	President	Referred

CITY of ALBUQUERQUE
TWENTY-FIRST COUNCIL


COUNCIL BILL NO. F/S O-14-22 ENACTMENT NO. ______________________

SPONSORED BY: Isaac Benton


ORDINANCE
title
F/S Amending The Zoning Code To Regulate Small Loan Businesses (Benton)
body
AMENDING THE ZONING CODE TO REGULATE SMALL LOAN BUSINESSES.
WHEREAS, the prevalence of small loan businesses, including but not limited to payday lenders and title loans, some of which routinely charge up to 1,000% interest, has risen within the Albuquerque Metro Area over the past several years - there are approximately 116 locations in the City, with 58 new locations having been established since just 2009; and
WHEREAS, according to the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, in 2012, consumers in New Mexico were charged $99 million in interest and fees on small loans with an annual percentage rate of 175% and higher - the majority of which was collected by out of state companies; and
WHEREAS, the City Council passed Resolution R-14-102 on October 6, 2014, urging the New Mexico Legislature and the Governor to enact an interest and fee cap of 36% or less across all loan products offered by Small Loan Business; and
WHEREAS, spatial analysis of small loan businesses shows that they tend to cluster in low to moderate income communities, and near military installations; and
WHEREAS, a study by the Southwest Center for Economic Integrity out of Tucson, Arizona, found that approximately $20 million dollars in fees were being extracted annually by payday lending businesses from residents in Pima County, Arizona - largely in the same redevelopment neighborhoods where local governments had invested approximately $8 million in redevelopment funds; and
WHEREAS, clustering of small loan establishments tend to not only serve as an indicator of economic distress within a community, but also as an exacerbating factor in that distress by circulating and cycling greater debt amongst proximate sma...