§ 26-71. Purpose, findings, applicability.

The county council finds that title loan businesses in Volusia County are currently regulated by F.S. pt. I, ch. 538. However the statute allows title loan lenders to charge annual interest rates of 264 percent for title loans. Further, the county council finds that there is a risk of financial devastation that faces customers of the motor vehicle title loan business in Volusia County who enter into title loans with extraordinarily high interest rates. The likelihood that persons of limited means will be unable to repay the title loans with interest, especially because of the excessive rates of interest, is great. Florida law allows this excessive interest rate but does not require an accounting as to the disposition of the automobile or its proceeds to the borrowers in the event of a default. However, F.S. § 538.17 permits political subdivisions of the State of Florida to enact laws more restrictive than the provisions of F.S. ch. 538, pt. I. The county council finds that promoting affordable loans by regulating high interest loans is a valid public purpose in protecting the health, safety and welfare of the residents of Volusia County. The purpose of this article is to provide greater consumer protection for borrowers who enter into motor vehicle title loan transactions than is presently provided in Florida Statutes. This ordinance is to apply throughout the County of Volusia, in the incorporated and unincorporated areas of the County of Volusia.

(Ord. No. 99-21, § I, 7-1-99)