Judge rules that Oxendine did not follow the law

Middle Georgia Management Services, a loan company owned by state Rep. Rusty Kidd (I-Milledgeville), sued John Oxendine last month, seeking an injunction to force Oxendine to follow the law when issuing the licenses. The company accused Oxendine of awarding the licenses to political supporters.

Arrington granted the temporary restraining order, which requires Oxendine to follow state law when issuing the licenses. The judge ruled that Oxendine was not requiring applicants for licenses to fill out forms required, which he said is “not a proper exercise of the interpretive or discretionary powers of the Commissioner.”

Oxendine, whose term ends this year, supervises the state’s small-loan companies under the Georgia Industrial Loan Act. The loan companies are not banks, and they do not take deposits. They are storefront lenders who can make loans of $3,000 or less. Their customers are usually people with poor credit who can’t get a credit card or obtain a loan from a traditional bank.