At a time when payday lenders are under scrutiny in El Paso and Texas, the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority which is charged with implementing the area's first toll road is partnering with an organization that uses a payday lender to help collect tolls.

As of right now, ACE Cash Express -- a payday lender -- is the only place in El Paso a person can walk into to buy a toll tag or pay a toll to use the toll lanes on the César Chávez Border Highway. People can also pay the toll by phone, online or mail.

The Border Highway toll road is expected to be operational by Jan. 8.

REPORTER
Aileen B. Flores

Raymond Telles, executive director for the CRRMA, said CRRMA had to partner with the North Texas Tollway Authority, which in turns partners with ACE Cash Express, because the mobile authority does not have "a fully staff to handle the billing."

He said partnering with North Texas Tollway Authority, an organization that maintains and operates toll roads in the Northern region of the state, was the best option to offer reliable customer service. That partnership includes the establishment of physical locations where the public can open and pay a toll account.

Telles said ACE Cash Express has the ability to collect payments in cash. There are seven ACE Cash Express locations in El Paso.

CRRMA Chairman Scott McLaughlin said the CRRMA is utilizing the agreement that the North Texas Tollway Authority set up with ACE Cash Express for physical locations. North Texas Tollway Authority first partnered with ACE Cash Express in 2010.

McLaughlin said the CRRMA is working on other options to give El Pasoans other sites to either set up an account or pay toll fees.

"I have directed our staff and our general engineering consultant to find other locations here in El Paso that we can use as physical locations," he said.

Linda Martinez, a manager of ACE Cash Express in El Paso, said toll collections is an additional service her company can provide to its customers.

"We are going to attract customers who have not done business with us, and that's a good opportunity to offer them a lot of the services that we provide," Martinez said.

ACE Cash Express offers payday loans, installment loans, title loans, prepaid debit cards and auto insurance, according to its website.

Earlier this year, City Council approved an ordinance intended to prevent payday and car-title lenders from taking advantage of people in need.

The payday industry has drawn some criticism because some borrowers pay an average of $840 or more for a $300 loan, and in some cases as much as $1,000 per month in fees for a $4,000 auto title loan, according to the Texas Fair Lending Alliance.

Representatives from the payday loan industry argue that they help people who are not eligible to get a loan from a bank institution.

The city ordinance limits payday loans to 20 percent of the borrower's gross monthly income and auto-title loans to either 3 percent of the borrower's gross annual income or 70 percent of the vehicle's value.

El Paso became the fourth city in Texas to adopt such an ordinance. However, the ordinance, which is supposed to become effective in July, was put on hold after a new mayor and two new representatives were elected into office in May, said city Rep. Emma Acosta.

In a written statement to the El Paso Times, City Attorney Sylvia Borunda Firth explained the reason for the postponement:

"The City delayed enforcement to allow time for the newly elected members of council to become familiar with the issue, staff to prepare for implementation and enforcement in the event council decides to move forward with regulation and to allow the legal department the opportunity to monitor litigation regarding municipal regulation of the industry across the State of Texas," Borunda Firth said.

Acosta, who voted for and continues to support the ordinance, said the council is expected to discuss the ordinance again on Jan. 7.

In regards to Ace Cash Express as the only physical site where people can pay for the toll road, Acosta said she does not believe the CRRMA was aware of the city's initiative to regulate payday lenders.

McLaughlin did not provide a straight answer on whether or not the CRRMA was aware of the city ordinance, instead he said the CRRMA does not endorse ACE Cash Express.

"We are not making a statement of how ACE does business," he said. "Currently we are just using their physical locations through our agreement with NTTA for people, if for some reason they want to physically go in and pay their TollTag account or set up an account, so we are utilizing those locations for that."

The CRRMA was created by City Council in 2007.

CRRMA officials encourage people to use the internet or a telephone to set up a TollTag since that method does not include an extra fee.

People interested in opening a toll account at an ACE Cash Express location will be charged a $3 fee to set up the account and a $2 convenience service fee to replenish a non-credit card.

Aileen B. Flores may be reached at 546-6362.