Moorhead City Council member Heidi Durand.
Courtesy City of Moorhead
Moorhead City Council member Heidi Durand has been immersed in the issue of payday loans for a couple of years after she learned local residents were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on short term high interest loans.
"I heard horror stories I heard personal experiences from people, and it was really deplorable to me, it really made me sick," she said.
Durand worked with other city leaders and city staff to develop what she calls a unique approach, using licensing requirements to restrict payday loans. She said many states, including North Dakota, restrict payday lending more than Minnesota, and some of the regulations implemented by other states helped shape the new Moorhead ordinance.