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WE ARE ONE OF THE FEW STATES IN THE COUNTRY TO LET IT HAPPEN. AND BECAUSE OF THAT, THOUSANDS OF NEW MEXICANS ARE LEFT IN FINANCIAL RUIN. EVEN THOUGH ITS ALL QUITE LEGAL, SOME CALL BARKER HAS SPENT THE PAST TWO MONTHS INVESTIGATING. HERE'S LARRY'S REPORT. Feldman: " The tragedy is ... lives have been ruined." Meyers: "It's a very serious threat. ... I think it's outrageous." Cutler: "No one should have to pay triple digit interest rates on a loan." of transaction you would expect to make in a back alley. Yet in New Mexico, theres a thriving industry thats legally cashing in on hundreds of millions of dollars. We're talking about the storefront loan business. Every year, more than 200,000 New Mexicans take out short installment loans at exorbitant interest rates as high as $175%." Meyers: "There are no policy reasons that support continuing to charge unfair, unaffordable and exploitive loans." ALBUQUERQUE ATTORNEY KAREN MEYERS HEADED UP ATTORNEY GENERAL GARY KING'S CONSUMER DIVISION. Meyers: "You shouldn't be giving people loans at rates that are outrageous and unconscionable." Rebecca: "Q. Did it ever took out the loan that you would lose everything, your car and all that money? A. No. ... It's absolutely devastating to us." WE'LL CALL HER REBECCA. WHILE LIVING NEAR FARMINGTON SHE FACED A FINANCIAL CRISIS AFTER HER HUSBAND WAS LAID OFF. Rebecca: "We needed to pay for our rent, our utilities." SO SHE WENT TO A STOREFRONT LENDER. USING THE TITLE TO HER CAR AS LOANED $3500 AT 155% INTEREST. Rebecca: "It was very enticing, as they say in Navajo, Navajo word it sounds good. It's like, yes, this is this is our answer to our prayers." SIGNING THE PAPERS THAT REBECCA REALIZED SHE COULDN'T AFFORD THE PAYMENTS. Rebecca: "On a three thousand five hundred to be paying back eleven thousand four hundred forty five dollars. Q. And you don't have that kind of money, do you? A. No." REBECCA IS NOW BEHIND ON HER PAYMENTS. the vehicle. ... Its the only vehicle that we have. So now we have to just surrender it to them because we can't afford that payment." REBECCA IS NOT ALONE. EVERY YEAR THOUSANDS OF WITH SHORT TERM INSTALLMENT LOANS AT ASTRONOMIC INTEREST RATES. ITS AN INDUSTRY THAT APPEALS TO FAMILIES WHO MAY HAVE BAD CREDIT AND NEED ACCESS TO QUICK CASH. IN 2019, NEW MEXICO'S STOREFRONT LENDING INDUSTRY WROTE LOANS EXCEEDING A HALF BILLION DOLLARS. Cutler: "No one should choice between paying for basic necessities, ... and making a payment on a triple digit interest rate loan." LINDSAY CUTLER IS AN ATTORNEY WITH THE NEW MEXICO CENTER ON LAW AND Cutler: "One hundred and seventy five percent interest loan is a predatory loan, it's unaffordable. It's an interest rate that's alarming on its face it's alarming." LETS PUT THIS IN PERSPECTIVE. THE AVERAGE INTEREST RATE ON AN AUTO LOAN IS ABOUT 5%. THE AVERAGE INTEREST ON A 30 YEAR HOME MORTGAGE IS 4%. IN NEW MEXICO THE INTEREST RATE ON A $500 6 MONTH INSTALLMENT LOAN CAN BE A WHOPPING 175%. AND ITS ALL PERFECTLY LEGAL. NEW MEXICO'S INSTALLMENT LOAN INDUSTRY IS THE ONLY BUSINESS IN THE STATE ALLOWED TO CHARGE TRIPLE DIGIT INTEREST COURTESY OF THE LEGISLATURE. Feldman: "It's a tribute to the power of the industry's lobbyists who are some of the most powerful ones in Santa Fe." DEDE FELDMAN IS A FORMER STATE SENATOR. Feldman: "Money is their business and they're very good with it and they know how to use it to get their way in the New Mexico Legislature." IN FACT, NEW MEXICO IS STATES THAT LEGALIZES TRIPLE DIGIT INTEREST ON INSTALLMENT LOANS. AS A RESULT, THE INDUSTRY FLOURISHES HERE. ALMOST 600 STOREFRONT LENDERS ARE LICENSED IN NEW MEXICO. THEY GO BY NAMES LIKE SECURITY FINANCE. LEND NATION. TITLE MAX. IN ALBUQUERQUE THERE ARE THREE TIMES MORE STOREFRONT LENDERS THAN THERE ARE MCDONALDS. IN GALLUP THE POPULATION OF 21,000 IS SERVED BY 40 STOREFRONT INTEREST LOANS. Nava: "And it's really a terrible situation." WINONA NAVA IS CEO AT SANTA FE'S GUADALUPE CREDIT UNION. Nava: "Q. Why do consumers seek out these small loan businesses? A. Because they see them as easy, they see them as fast. ... The people that work there are very nice. And the people there feel like they've been helped. But then when they get home and see the reality of the payments, they realize they haven't been helped." Meyers: "The financial harm is well documented in terms of people who lose their cars, are unable to pay off debt, end up defaulting." Peters: "I didn't know how to get extra money right away. So I would try the loan companies." PROBLEM FIRST HAND. IN NEED OF CASH TO PAY BILLS SHE BORROWED $565 FROM THE CASH STORE IN GALLUP AT ALMOST 175% INTEREST. Peters: "Having to pay every pay period, it's like, oh, my gosh." AFTER FELYNE FELL BEHIND ON PAYMENTS, THE CASH STORE WITHDREW THE MONEY DIRECTLY FROM HER CHECKING ACCOUNT, DRAINING IT. Peters: "Q. So they took all your money? A. Yes, they did." THE CASH STORE TOOK HER TO COURT. LEGAL AID INTERVENED. THE CASE WAS EVENTUALLY DROPPED. husband of 32 years and I had two grandchildren living with us and there was no life insurance." WE'LL CALL HER SANDRA. BATTLING CANCER AND LIVING ON SOCIAL MEET EXPENSES. SANDRA TOOK OUT FIVE TRIPLE DIGIT LOANS. Sandra: "I got to the point where I was taking out every loan they would they would offer me. So it was off. You pay one loan off to open another one. They offer you 50 dollars more. You're going to take it." Sandra: "Q. They knew that you had bad credit? A. Yes. Q. They knew living on Social Security? A. Yes. Q. That you didn't have a savings account? A. Right. Q. And they gave you loans anyway? A. Yes." UNABLE TO MAKE PAYMENTS, SHE RISKED HAVING HER CAR REPOSESSED. FORTUNATELY, THE STEPPED IN BAILED HER OUT. NOW SANDRA IS ABLE TO SLEEP AT NIGHT. TODAY, THE STORE FRONT LOAN INDUSTRY IS UNDER PRESSURE TO REDUCE ITS HIGH INTEREST RATES. STATE LAWMAKERS ARE CONSIDERING A BILL THAT WOULD BRING MOST OTHER STATES BY CAPPING THE INTEREST RATE ON CONSUMER hundred and seventy five percent interest rate is conscionable." LARRY BARKER. KRQE NEWS 13. THIS AFTERNOON THE STATE SENATE APPROVED SENATE INSTALLMENT LOAN INTEREST RATES AT 36-PERCENT. THE MEASURE NOW GOES TO THE STATE HOUSE FOR CONSIDERATION. toss to mma video .TONIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 20s.