Florida Payday Loans: Law, Stats and History
According to the state law of Florida, payday lending is legal.
Florida imposes a $500 amount limit on payday loans (not repayable in installments) offered in the state. Payday loans can be taken for the period from 7 to 31 days with the maximum finance charge of 10% for every $100 (plus verification fee not more than $5) and 304%* APR.
For deferred presentment installment transactions: a max loan amount of $1,000; loan period from 60 to 90 days; verification fee – up to $5; charge fees – 8% of the outstanding loan amount.
One loan at a time is allowed. There is a cooling-off period of 24 hours between 2 consecutive loans. No rollovers are allowed. Criminal actions are prohibited.
The lender must check every transaction (loan) through the special database (more about the database read here) before entering into an agreement.
Payday loans in Florida are referred to as “deferred presentment transactions“. The term “deferred presentment” means the act of writing a post-dated check for the money borrowed now.
Florida Payday Lending Statutes
The state of Florida considers payday lending legal according to the § 560.402-§ 560.408 Statutes.
All payday lenders in Florida need to be licensed under the Fl. Stat. Ann. § 560.402 et seq. in order to operate in the state.
Loan Amount in Florida
In Florida, it is forbidden to lend more than $500 for single-payment payday loans and more than $1,000 for installment payday loans at a time. The Florida Office of Financial Regulation urges not to exceed this limits as it is illegal.
One more limitation stated by the Office is that a person is not allowed to get more than one payday loan at a time. All payday loan applicants enter the Deferred Presentment Transaction System upon application. According to the state law, each licensed lender must check this system before issuing a loan to an applicant, and refuse in case the latter is already listed there.
Rates, Fees and Other Charges in Florida
- Florida does not allow any finance charges and fees that exceed 10% plus a verification fee (not more than $5).
In the state of Florida, a lender or affiliates are not permitted to charge any fee that is more than 10 percent of the dollar amount provided. A verification fee can be charged, however, as is consistent with §,560.309(7) of the Payday Lending State Statutes from the National Conference of State Legislatures. A lender can only charge fees described in may charge only those fees specifically authorized in §,560.309. (Fl. Stat. Ann. § 560.402 et seq.)
- APR equals 304% (*According to the Center for Responsible Lending 2019: “Typical APR based on average rate for a $300 loan advertised by largest payday chains or as determined by state regulator, where applicable.”).
How Much Would a $100 Payday Loan Cost in Florida? (Use Calculator)
With a 14 days term:
ARP: 521.4%
Loan cost: $20
To return: $120
Cost сalculation
15% fee charge of $100 = $15
$5 verification fee
Total: $20
ARP сalculation:
$20 / $100 / 14 days = 0.01428 * 365 days * 100 = 521.4%
The Maximum Term for a Payday Loan in Florida
- The single-payment loans are given for a period of 7-31 days and these terms should be adhered to.
- Installment loans are given for the period of 60-90 days.
- Rollovers are not allowed in Florida – so all the borrowed loans should be repaid in time. However, there are repayment plans offered on demand by the lenders.
Consumer Information
Attention
From July 2020, lenders are not required to check a borrower’s ability to repay a loan.
Be careful, evaluate your financial situation, don’t get into a debt trap.
Warning
Florida Department strongly recommends checking the license of deferred deposit originators (payday lenders) by this link.
- Criminal charges are prohibited in the state of Florida and a lender cannot take any actions of the kind to the borrower who is unable to repay.
- Payday lending is available both to the residents of Florida or to those who think of moving here.
- The law provides consumers in Florida with a 60-day grace period in case one is unable to repay in time. However, to use this feature, certain steps should be taken in advance.
Payday loans, or deferred presentment companies, are regulated by the Florida Office of Financial Regulation.
You can also file a complaint on their website with regard to illegal payday lender actions in Florida.
Regulator: Complaints & Information
Florida Office of Financial Regulation
Address: 200 E Gaines St, Tallahassee, FL 32399
Phone: 850-487-9687
Url: https://www.flofr.com/
File a Complaint: https://www.flofr.com/sitepages/FileAComplaint.htm
Number of Florida Consumers Complaints by Topics
According to CFPB Consumer Complaint Database
- Fraud and threat ( 307 )
- Charges from account ( 273 )
- Not exiting debt ( 191 )
- Loan to return ( 93 )
- Not requested loan ( 78 )
- Lender is not available ( 73 )
- Credit rating ( 69 )
- Loan not received ( 42 )
The Quantity of Top Florida Stores by Cities
Statistics
| Year | No. of Stores | No. of Unique Clients | No. of Loans, million | Value of Fees, million | Value of Loans, billion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 1,206 | 872,093 | 7.5 | $297 | $3.0 |
| 2014 | 886 | 927,711 | 7.7 | $306 | $3.0 |
| 2015 | 762 | 975,309 | 7.9 | $311 | $3.1 |
| 2016 | 1,094 | 987,500 | 7.9 | $313 | $3.2 |
| 2017 | 923 | 974,684 | 7.7 | $306 | $3.1 |
| 2018 | 945 | 897,436 | 7.0 | $280 | $2.8 |
| 2019 | 971 | 887,500 | 7.1 | $289 | $2.9 |
| 2020 | 862 | 890,625 | 5.7 | $258 | $2.4 |
As of June 2020, 4,084,626 clients were registered in the Florida database (Florida Deferred Presentment Transaction System)
Questions/Answers
- How Many Payday Loans Can You Have in Florida?
Only one outstanding payday loan is allowed in Florida by law. If you want to take a new loan you need to pay back the old one and wait for 24 hours.
The History of Payday Loans in Florida
- 1990s – Many payday lenders had extended loans with rates that exceeded the state of Florida’s 18 percent usury limit. This is regarded as a reflection of the poor state of regulations at the time. (Center for Responsible Lending)
- 2001 – Florida’s payday loan law, the Deferred Presentment Act, passed. It contained all the current payday loan regulations and was meant to regulate and bring order into the industry. However, as time showed, its practices (meant for the better) failed.
- June 2, 2016 – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed a Payday Loan Rule that hasn’t yet fully come into effect (expected in November 2020).
- 2018 – Florida’s House and Senate passed the Deferred Presentment Transactions Law (SB 920) that will allow installment payday loans up to $1,000 repayable in 60 to 90 days (to take effect on July 1, 2019).
The need for changes was also caused by the fact that – $306 million was paid towards fees by Floridians on $3.09 billion borrowed between July 2016 and June 2017. Thus, in the attempt to help consumers, lawmakers decided to offer 3-month installment payday loans apart from the short-term loan product already in place.
There is much controversy around this law, however, and many industry opponents say that it will only bring more profit to the lenders and the customers will suffer even more.
[Updated As of December 2020]