11 - Credit Access Business Ordinance

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No. 11 Memorandum TO: Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem & City Council FROM: Grayson Path, City Manager Stephanie Harris, City Attorney Rob Vine, Assistant City Manager SUBJECT: Credit Access Business Ordinance DATE: January 9, 2023 BACKGROUND (repeated from the 11/14/22 City Council Meeting Agenda Memo): At the October 10, 2022 City Council Meeting, the City Council heard presentations from Texas Appleseed and United Way regarding Credit Access Businesses (CAB) (aka Pay Day Loans) and the abusive and predatory lending practices that often occurs with the services they provide to members of our community who are in financial straits. From this presentation, the City Council requested that an ordinance regulating these services be produced and brought back to them for consideration. Working with Texas Appleseed, City Staff obtained a copy of a CAB Ordinance produced by the Texas Municipal League nearly ten years ago. In addition, City Staff obtained a copy of the recently approved City of Reno ordinance. The City of Reno Ordinance mirrors that of the City of Austin (and we understand the City of Dallas). This version is currently under litigation. The TML version however has already been litigated over the past ten years. While this is not a guarantee that litigation may still not occur, we can at least be rest assured that this ordinance has already been tested in court. Should the Austin version survive litigation, the City of Paris could always re-examine it, seeking amendments to whatever we have in existence at the time. Mayor Paula Portugal, Mayor Pro Tem Reginald Hughes, City Manager Grayson Path, City Attorney Stephanie Harris, and Assistant City Manager Rob Vine met to review the draft TML Ordinance. After making a few slight modifications based on versions approved by other municipalities, we have ready tonight a version we recommend for approval.