One day a few weeks ago, on my way to work, I walked into a Cash Store near my house in East Austin and took out a $1,500 loan. I wasn’t broke, but I sure would’ve been if I hadn’t later canceled the ...

Fort Worth has several options if it wants to join the growing list of Texas cities that regulate payday lenders, and while some council members consider the matter urgent, others expressed caution ...

Before Texas became the capital of payday loans, it was a welcoming place for consumers. The famous phrase “Gone to Texas” took hold in the 19th century, in part, because people were fleeing debts and ...

Rebecca Anthony needed a little help putting food on the table. She’d already received assistance from a church and friends, but it wasn’t enough to put whole meals together for her mother, two ...

Danielle Ayers is the pastor of justice at Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas. Ten years ago, Dallas passed the first city ordinance in Texas regulating payday and auto-title loans. It was the ...

Brownsville, Texas, a city in the state's southernmost part, is taking on payday lenders. In December, it placed a six-month moratorium barring these lenders -- which specialize in short-term loans ...

A version of this story ran in the March / April 2021 issue. Last spring, Federal Cash Advance of Oklahoma, LLC raked in nearly $1 million in a single transaction. That money came from the federal ...