2009 WISCONSIN ACT 405
(Vetoed in Part)
An Act to amend 20.144 (1) (g), 49.857 (1) (d) 12., 73.0301 (1) (d) 6., 138.04, 138.09 (1m) (a), 138.09 (3) (f), 138.10 (2m), 138.10 (15), 220.02 (2) (b), 220.04 (10), 220.285 (1), 321.60 (1) (a) 12., 403.414 (7), 422.201 (3) and 425.301 (4); and to create 20.144 (1) (j), 59.69 (4h), 62.23 (7) (hi), 138.09 (1a), 138.09 (3) (e) 1. g., 138.14, 138.16 and 812.35 (1a) of the statutes; relating to: regulating payday loans and motor vehicle title loans, limiting the areas in which a payday lender may operate, granting rule-making authority, making an appropriation, and providing a penalty.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
405,1
Section
1. 20.144 (1) (g) of the statutes is amended to read:
20.144 (1) (g) General program operations. The amounts in the schedule for the general program operations of the department of financial institutions. Except as provided in pars. (a), (h), (i), (j), and (u), all moneys received by the department, other than by the office of credit unions and the division of banking, and 88% of all moneys received by the department's division of banking shall be credited to this appropriation, but any balance at the close of a fiscal year under this appropriation shall lapse to the general fund. Annually, $200,000 of the amounts received under this appropriation account shall be transferred to the appropriation account under s. 20.575 (1) (g).
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2. 20.144 (1) (j) of the statutes is created to read:
20.144 (1) (j) Payday loan database and financial literacy. All moneys received under s. 138.14 (14) (h), for developing, implementing, maintaining, or contracting for operating, the database under s. 138.14 (14), and for promoting financial literacy.
49.857 (1) (d) 12. A license or certificate of registration issued under ss. 138.09, 138.12, 138.14, 217.06, 218.0101 to 218.0163, 218.02, 218.04, 218.05, 224.72, 224.725, 224.93 or subch. IV of ch. 551.
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4. 59.69 (4h) of the statutes is created to read:
59.69 (4h) Payday lenders. (a) Definitions. In this subsection:
1. "Licensee" has the meaning given in s. 138.14 (1) (i).
2. "Payday lender" means a business, owned by a licensee, that makes payday loans.
3. "Payday loan" has the meaning given in s. 138.14 (1) (k).
(b) Limits on locations of payday lenders. Except as provided in par. (c), no payday lender may operate in a county unless it receives a permit to do so from the county zoning agency, and the county zoning agency may not issue a permit to a payday lender if any of the following applies:
1. The payday lender would be located within 1,500 feet of another payday lender.
2. The payday lender would be located within 150 feet of a single-family or 2-family residential zoning district.
(c) Exceptions. 1. Paragraph (b) only applies in the unincorporated parts of the county which have not adopted a zoning ordinance as authorized under s. 60.62 (1).
2. A county may regulate payday lenders by enacting a zoning ordinance that contains provisions that are more strict than those specified in par. (b).
3. If a county has enacted an ordinance regulating payday lenders that is in effect on the effective date of this subdivision .... [LRB inserts date], the ordinance may continue to apply and the county may continue to enforce the ordinance, but only if the ordinance is at least as restrictive as the provisions of par. (b).
4. Notwithstanding the provisions of subd. 3., if a payday lender that is doing business on the effective date of this subdivision .... [LRB inserts date], from a location that does not comply with the provisions of par. (b), the payday lender may continue to operate from that location notwithstanding the provisions of par. (b).
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Section
5. 62.23 (7) (hi) of the statutes is created to read:
62.23 (7) (hi) Payday lenders. 1. In this paragraph:
a. "Licensee" has the meaning given in s. 138.14 (1) (i).
b. "Payday lender" means a business, owned by a licensee, that makes payday loans.
c. "Payday loan" has the meaning given in s. 138.14 (1) (k).
2. Except as provided in subds. 3., 4., and 5., no payday lender may operate in a city unless it receives a permit to do so from the city council, and the city council may not issue a permit to a payday lender if any of the following applies:
a. The payday lender would be located within 1,500 feet of another payday lender.
b. The payday lender would be located within 150 feet of a single-family or 2-family residential zoning district.
3. A city may regulate payday lenders by enacting a zoning ordinance that contains provisions that are more strict than those specified in subd. 2.
4. If a city has enacted an ordinance regulating payday lenders that is in effect on the effective date of this subdivision .... [LRB inserts date], the ordinance may continue to apply and the city may continue to enforce the ordinance, but only if the ordinance is at least as restrictive as the provisions of subd. 2.
5. Notwithstanding the provisions of subd. 4., if a payday lender that is doing business on the effective date of this subdivision .... [LRB inserts date], from a location that does not comply with the provisions of subd. 2., the payday lender may continue to operate from that location notwithstanding the provisions of subd. 2.
73.0301 (1) (d) 6. A license or certificate of registration issued by the department of financial institutions, or a division of it, under ss. 138.09, 138.12, 138.14, 217.06, 218.0101 to 218.0163, 218.02, 218.04, 218.05, 224.72, 224.725, 224.93 or under subch. IV of ch. 551.
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Section
7. 138.04 of the statutes is amended to read:
138.04 Legal rate. The rate of interest upon the loan or forbearance of any money, goods or things in action shall be $5 upon the $100 for one year and according to that rate for a greater or less sum or for a longer or a shorter time; but parties may contract for the payment and receipt of a rate of interest not exceeding the rate allowed in ss. 138.041 to 138.056, 138.09 to 138.12 138.14, 218.0101 to 218.0163, or 422.201, in which case such rate shall be clearly expressed in writing.
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Section
8. 138.09 (1a) of the statutes is created to read:
138.09 (1a) This section does not apply to any of the following:
(a) Banks, savings banks, savings and loan associations, trust companies, credit unions
, or any of their affiliates .
(b) Payday loans made under s. 138.14.
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Section
9. 138.09 (1m) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
138.09 (1m) (a) Before any person may do business under this section or, charge the interest authorized by sub. (7) and before any creditor other than a bank, savings bank, savings and loan association or credit union may, or assess a finance charge on a consumer loan in excess of 18% per year, that person shall first obtain a license from the division. Applications for a license shall be in writing and upon forms provided for this purpose by the division. An applicant at the time of making an application shall pay to the division a nonrefundable $300 fee for investigating the application and a $500 annual license fee for the period terminating on the last day of the current calendar year. If the cost of the investigation exceeds $300, the applicant shall upon demand of the division pay to the division the amount by which the cost of the investigation exceeds the nonrefundable fee.
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Section
10. 138.09 (3) (e) 1. g. of the statutes is created to read:
138.09 (3) (e) 1. g. A payday loan licensee under s. 138.14.
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Section
11. 138.09 (3) (f) of the statutes is amended to read:
138.09 (3) (f) Every licensee shall make an annual report to the division for each calendar year on or before March 15 of the following year. The report shall cover include business transacted by the licensee under the provisions of this section and shall give all reasonable and relevant information that the division may require. The reports shall be made upon forms furnished in the form and manner prescribed by the division and shall be signed and verified by the oath or affirmation of the licensee if an individual, one of the partners if a partnership, a member or manager if a limited liability company or an officer of the corporation or association if a corporation or association. Any licensee operating under this section shall keep the records affecting loans made pursuant to this section separate and distinct from the records of any other business of the licensee.
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Section
12. 138.10 (2m) of the statutes is amended to read:
138.10 (2m) Pawnbroking by licensed lenders. The division of banking may promulgate rules regulating the conduct of pawnbroking by persons licensed under s. 138.09 or 138.14.
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Section
13. 138.10 (15) of the statutes is amended to read:
138.10 (15) Exception. This section does not apply to any person that is licensed under s. 138.09 or 138.14.
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Section
14. 138.14 of the statutes is created to read:
138.14 Payday loans. (1) Definitions. In this section:
(a) "Affiliate" means, with respect to a person, another person who owns or controls, is owned or controlled by, or is under common ownership or control with, such person. In this paragraph "control" means any of the following:
1. For a corporation, direct or indirect ownership of, or the right to control, 10 percent or more of the voting shares of the corporation, or the ability of a person to elect a majority of the directors or otherwise effect a change in policy.
2. For any entity other than a corporation, the ability to change the active or passive principals of the organization.
(b) "Check" has the meaning given in s. 403.104 (6).
