Payday Loans Alice TX: No Local Ordinance Caps the Cost
Payday loans in Alice, Texas are priced the same way they were before the town became a permanent footnote in American political history: with no local ordinance standing between a borrower and the lender's own fee schedule. Alice is the seat of Jim Wells County and ZIP code 78332, home to roughly 18,000 residents whose paychecks run on oilfield service work, county government, and a hospital campus rather than the tourism or tech money other Texas cities lean on. The town never adopted the credit access business (CAB) ordinance that Austin, Corpus Christi, and dozens of larger Texas cities use to cap loan size, so a storefront lender here answers only to the state licensing law and nothing more local.
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Mention Alice, Texas to anyone who follows American political history and you'll get one reaction: Box 13. In the 1948 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Precinct 13 here reported 202 extra votes nearly a week after polls closed, almost all marked for Lyndon B. Johnson, who went on to win the nomination — and the seat — by 87 votes statewide. The box itself disappeared before investigators could examine it, and the episode is still cited in civics classrooms as shorthand for ballot fraud.
It's a strange thing for a town of roughly 18,000 people to be known for, and it has nothing to do with how money moves through Alice today. The county seat of Jim Wells County runs on oilfield services, county government payroll, and a regional hospital — not political trivia — and those are the paychecks that determine whether a payday loan ad on the radio lands with anyone.
No Ordinance Means No Local Cap
Roughly 45 Texas cities — Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Austin, and most of the state's larger municipalities among them — have passed a credit access business (CAB) ordinance capping single-payment loans at 20% of a borrower's gross monthly income and limiting renewals to three. Alice's city council has never brought a version of that ordinance forward. A CAB storefront here needs an active Texas OCCC license and nothing else.
Alice Payday Loan Rules — What Applies Here
- Lender type: Credit access businesses (CABs), licensed by Texas OCCC
- Local ordinance: None — Alice has not adopted the CAB registration ordinance
- Loan amount cap: None — no local ordinance tying loan size to income
- Fee cap: None — Texas sets no statewide rate ceiling
- Renewal limit: None statewide without a local ordinance
- Typical effective APR: 300%–660% on short-term loans
- State regulator: Texas OCCC — (800) 538-1579 — occc.texas.gov
What It Costs Along East Main Street
Cash advance and title loan storefronts in Alice cluster along East Main Street and South Texas Boulevard, within a few blocks of the Jim Wells County Courthouse and the Highway 281 retail corridor that pulls in traffic from smaller surrounding towns like Orange Grove and Premont.
Alice Payday Loan Cost Examples
- $300 loan (14-day term): $50–$90 fee → repay $350–$390
- $500 loan (14-day term): $80–$135 fee → repay $580–$635
- $700 loan (30-day term): $110–$180 fee → repay $810–$880
These reflect typical market rates from licensed CABs — with no local ordinance and no state fee cap, individual lenders set their own terms. Federal law requires a written APR disclosure before you sign.
Oilfield Pay Cycles and the Cash Gap
More than 100 drilling and oilfield service companies operate in and around Alice to serve the South Texas oil patch, including local units of Schlumberger, Halliburton, and Baker Hughes. That work can pay well during an active drilling cycle, but it swings hard with rig counts and oil prices — a slow quarter can cut hours with little warning.
CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Alice on East Main Street and Jim Wells County government are the other large employers in town, both offering steadier shift and clerical work at lower wages than a busy oilfield crew sees. The gap between a strong drilling season and a quiet one, or between a hospital shift schedule and an unexpected bill, is the exact gap a payday lender is marketed to fill.
Where Alice Households Turn First
Jim Wells County's Human Services office processes utility and rent assistance applications for county residents, and the Coastal Bend Community Action Agency extends similar help across the broader South Texas region. Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi also fields emergency aid requests referred in from Jim Wells County.
- Jim Wells County Human Services: Utility and rent assistance for county residents — contact through the county courthouse.
- Coastal Bend Community Action Agency: Regional utility, rent, and weatherization assistance covering Jim Wells County.
- Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi: Emergency financial aid referrals extending into Jim Wells County.
- 211 Texas: Dial 211, available 24 hours, for emergency financial assistance statewide.
Alice will likely always be the town historians bring up when they talk about Box 13. But the courthouse records from 1948 don't set today's loan fees, and neither does anything else in city hall. Without a local ordinance, what a payday loan costs here is whatever the market will bear — the only real protection is knowing the numbers before you sign.
Frequently Asked Questions About Payday Loans in Alice
Does Alice have its own payday loan ordinance?
No. Alice has never adopted the credit access business (CAB) registration ordinance that Corpus Christi and roughly 45 other Texas cities use to cap single-payment loans at 20% of a borrower's gross monthly income and limit renewals to three. A CAB operating in Alice only needs a Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner (OCCC) license — the city itself adds no further rules.
How much does a payday loan cost in Alice?
Without a local cap, Alice pricing tracks the unregulated statewide range: a $300 loan over 14 days typically carries a $50–$90 fee, a $500 loan over 14 days runs $80–$135, and a $700 loan over 30 days lands around $110–$180. Effective APRs commonly fall between 300% and 660%. Federal law requires a written fee disclosure before you sign, regardless of the amount.
What is the "Box 13" story Alice is known for?
In the 1948 Texas Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Precinct 13 in Alice reported 202 additional votes six days after the polls closed, nearly all for Lyndon B. Johnson, who won the nomination over Coke Stevenson by 87 votes statewide. The ballot box's contents were never fully resolved in court, and "Box 13" remains shorthand nationally for Texas election fraud. It's a historical footnote with no bearing on how lenders operate in Alice today, but it's the first thing many people learn about the town.
Where can I get a payday loan in Alice?
Storefront cash advance and title loan locations cluster along East Main Street and South Texas Boulevard near the Jim Wells County Courthouse and the retail strip that also serves Highway 281 traffic. Verify any location's current OCCC license at occc.texas.gov before handing over identification or bank information.
What drives Alice's economy, and why does cash flow get tight?
Oilfield service work is the backbone — more than 100 drilling and service companies, including units of Schlumberger, Halliburton, and Baker Hughes, operate in and around Alice to serve the South Texas oil patch. That work pays well during active drilling cycles but swings hard with oil prices and rig counts. CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Alice on East Main Street and Jim Wells County government round out the larger employers, both offering steadier but lower-paying shift and clerical work. The gap between a boom paycheck and a slow month is exactly where short-term borrowing tends to surface.
What free help exists in Alice before taking a payday loan?
Jim Wells County's Human Services office and the Coastal Bend Community Action Agency both handle utility and rent assistance applications for county residents, and Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi extends emergency aid into Jim Wells County on a referral basis. Dial 211 for the statewide 24-hour Texas helpline covering food, rent, and utility emergencies.