Dallas Morning News editorial writer Jim Mitchell has posted a blog saluting one Texas city’s effort to crack down on payday lenders.

He believes, correctly, that other cities are right to do what the Texas Legislature has failed to do, which is to strictly regulate what he calls “predatory lending practices.”

http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/01/a-texas-city-continues-to-stand-tough-against-payday-lenders.html/

We seem them all over Amarillo. No credit checks required. Bad credit? No problem. Come on in and we’ll loan you what you need. What’s not advertised, of course, is that these “financial institutions” charge borrowers and arm and both legs — maybe it’s both arms and a leg … whatever — in interest to pay the loans back.

Another, less delicate term for these outfits is “loan shark.”

I get that they’re legal. I also get that some people need money quickly to pay off debts owed to other creditors.

But as Mitchell notes in his blog, the payday lenders with ready cash are preying on the vulnerable.

El Paso has sought to crack down on the practice. Mitchell took note of a Dallas city councilman’s visit to the El Paso to take a new look at that city’s ordinance. Other big cities have climbed on board the payday loan regulation bandwagon. Mitchell asks when other cities will join. “I have a question for mayors and council members in Arlington, Fort Worth and Corpus Christi and Midland-Odessa. When are you going to step up, too?” Mitchell writes.

He didn’t mention Amarillo. I will. What about it, Amarillo City Hall?