Payday loans in Ohio
The Short-Term Loan Act lets Ohio lenders offer small short-term loans only in the form of licensed installment loans, each up to $1,000. Interest may not top 28%, fees are limited, and total charges cannot pass 60% of the loan.
- Payday lending
- Only as installments
- Max cost
- None in the law
- Top amount
- Each loan is limited to $1,000, and the total outstanding short-term principal for one borrower cannot exceed $2,500.
Are payday loans legal in Ohio?
Ohio law makes payday loans legal only when they are licensed installment loans, as the Ohio Short-Term Loan Act requires. You repay an installment loan with equal payments that include the loan amount, fees, and interest. The cap for each loan is $1,000. Your total unpaid loan balances across all licensed lenders cannot exceed $2,500 at any one time. Yearly interest may reach 28%, while the monthly fee cannot exceed $30 or 10% of the loan, using whichever amount is lower. Fees and charges combined can never go over 60% of the original loan.
Every short-term lender and broker in Ohio must have a state licence, while making these loans by mail or telephone is banned. Any loan breaking those rules is void. As a result, the lender may not collect fees, interest, or the loan amount from you. Before you borrow, use the state eLicense Center to verify a lender's licence. You may submit a written complaint to the Ohio Division of Financial Institutions when a company breaks these rules.
- A short-term loan's total charges and fees cannot exceed 60% of the original amount.
- Active-duty service members or their dependents cannot be charged a monthly maintenance fee.
- Borrowers must get at least 91 days to repay, never more than one year. Less time is allowed only when each monthly payment is at or under 6% of gross monthly income, or 7% of net income that month.
- You have until 5 p.m. on the third working day to cancel, as long as you give the loan amount back.
- Laws ban making, offering, or brokering short-term loans by mail or phone, and any such loan is void.
- Today's rules date from House Bill 123, effective October 29, 2018. The change followed a 2014 Ohio Supreme Court decision that let lenders offer payday-style loans through the Mortgage Loan Act rather than the 2008 law.
Ohio payday loan laws
- Law in force
- Ohio Short-Term Loan Act
- Cited as
- Ohio Rev. Code 1321.35 through 1321.48 (main rules: 1321.36, 1321.39, 1321.40, 1321.403, 1321.41)
- Fees under the law
- The law sets interest at twenty-eight per cent per annum maximum, plus a monthly maintenance fee not exceeding thirty dollars or ten per cent of the original loan, whichever is less.
- Most you can borrow
- Each loan is limited to $1,000, and the total outstanding short-term principal for one borrower cannot exceed $2,500.
- How long a loan runs
- 91 days (shorter terms are permitted only if each monthly payment is 6% of verified gross monthly income or 7% of verified net monthly income or less) to one year
- Loans you can hold at once
- While no set number exists, total outstanding principal across all licensees cannot pass $2,500.
- Installment lending limits
- Registrants under the General Loan Law (Ohio Rev. Code 1321.57): on the unpaid principal balance, interest is charged up to 21% per year using the actuarial method
Also checked against codes.ohio.gov. Full statute text.
Online lenders that list Ohio
Eleven companies we track say they lend in Ohio: 4 online installment lenders, 6 tribal lenders and 1 loan broker.
| Lender | Kind | Posted APR |
|---|---|---|
 NetCredit | Installment | 34.99% to 99.99% |
 OppLoans | Installment | 99% to 195% |
 Fig Loans | Installment | 190% to 279% |
 Rise Credit | Installment | 60% to 299% |
 Viva Payday Loans | Broker | Partner lenders quote 4.99% to 1,386% |
Tribal loans in Ohio
Ohio allows no one to make such a loan to an Ohio borrower, or broker one, without a Short-Term Loan Act licence. These loans are barred by telephone or mail; a rule-breaking loan is void, so no principal, interest, or fees can be collected.
On the immunity claim tribal lenders make, see are tribal loans legal.
Six tribal lenders we track list Ohio as a state they lend in. Three of the six publish an APR, from 73.7% to 725%.
| Lender | Posted APR |
|---|---|
 Mobiloans | 73.7% to 405% |
 Spotloan | 99% to 490% |
 BrightLending | 325% to 725% |
 MaxLend | Not published |
 Minto Money | Not published |
| American Web Loan | Not published |
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Ohio and the states around it
| State | Payday lending | Max cost | Top amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio | Only as installments | None in the law | Each loan is limited to $1,000, and the total outstanding short-term principal for one borrower cannot exceed $2,500. |
| Indiana | Allowed | $15.00 per $100 borrowed | The statute sets $550 as the base, which the DFI rule lifts to $825, with a rise to $880 from January 1, 2027. |
| Kentucky | Allowed | $15.00 per $100 borrowed | All open deferred deposit transactions together may not exceed $600 in total proceeds (the figure moves with CPI each year and can never pass $850). |
| Michigan | Allowed | $15.00 per $100 borrowed | Each transaction allows a maximum of $600. |
| Pennsylvania | Banned | None in the law | None allowed |
| West Virginia | Banned | None in the law | None allowed |
Ohio loans with no credit check
Installment loan rates: Registrants under the General Loan Law (Ohio Rev. Code 1321.57): on the unpaid principal balance, interest is charged up to 21% per year using the actuarial method.
See no credit check loans: the checks lenders still run, and the price.
Verify a lender's license in Ohio
- Look the lender up on the license list before you hand over any bank details.
- Lenders here answer to the Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Financial Institutions (Consumer Finance Section).
- Had trouble with a lender? Report the lender.
Sources for Ohio
- You cannot get a short-term loan for more than $1,000.; Loans must last at least 91 days but no longer than one year.; Only loans with a monthly payment at or below 6% of gross monthly income or 7% of net monthly income may have a shorter term.codes.ohio.gov
- The yearly interest rate cannot go above 28%.; The monthly maintenance fee cannot be higher than $30 or 10% of the loan, using whichever figure is smaller.; Active-duty service members and their dependents do not pay a maintenance fee.codes.ohio.gov
- No more than 60% of the original loan amount may be taken as total fees and charges.codes.ohio.gov
- No borrower may have more than $2,500 in total outstanding short-term loan principal.codes.ohio.gov
- Brokering or making a short-term loan for an Ohio borrower requires holding a licence.; Nobody may make or broker these loans through the mail or by telephone.; Any loan issued against these rules is void.codes.ohio.gov
- The most General Loan Law registrants may charge is 21% a year.codes.ohio.gov
- Payday-style loans by Mortgage Loan Act lenders were not stopped by the 2008 Short-Term Loan Act, according to a 2014 Ohio Supreme Court holding.courtnewsohio.gov
- The Division of Financial Institutions supervises short-term lenders as well as other non-bank consumer lending businesses.com.ohio.gov
- A resident who has trouble with a Division-regulated consumer finance company may submit a written complaint.com.ohio.gov
- Check a licence using the eLicense Center or NMLS Consumer Access, as the DFI suggests.com.ohio.gov
- In December 2020 the Ohio AG joined 30 AGs supporting FTC restitution aimed at an online payday lending scheme.; High-interest short-term loans made online by Scott Tucker's companies were part of the scheme.ohioattorneygeneral.gov