Peterson said that by taking the cases to small claims court, payday lenders can essentially convert an unsecured loan into a secured one. "They can do a lot of collection remedies they could not pursue otherwise, such as garnishing wages, going after assets in bank accounts and possibly taking cars," he said.

But Cort Walker, spokesman for the payday lending industry's Utah Consumer Lending Association, said lawsuits "are only filed as a last resort because it's an inefficient way to transact business. It severs a relationship and ... it requires an out-of-pocket filing fee."

But Peterson notes that many payday lenders also require loan recipients to sign agreements to pay collection costs and attorney fees if they go into default, likely covering the payday lender's costs as part of any judgment.

Walker said many of the payday lender cases identified by the Morning News may be for "check-cashing" transactions, not just payday loans. But even if all the cases identified were for payday loans, he said that would still involve less than 1 percent of the 1 million loans the industry estimates it issues in Utah each year.

"Over 99 percent of cash advance loans are successfully repaid," Walker said. "This is a remarkable percentage considering the unsecured nature of the loans. ... This evidence shows that lenders are not issuing loans to consumers who cannot afford to repay them. Lenders want consumers to use payday advances responsibly."

But Linda Hilton, a payday loan critic and director of the Coalition of Religious Communities, said, "How do we know what percentage of all payday loans really go to court? We just have to take their word that they made 1 million loans here, but maybe it was only 100,000. How do we know? We have no reliable data."

She says that's why she favors Bell's bill, which would require collecting such data.

Bell said it is modeled after a Colorado law that requires payday lenders to report aggregate data on such things as loans made, rollovers and how long loans are outstanding. Sen. Karen Mayne, D-West Valley, is proposing a bill that also requires some such data, but not as much. She said state regulators back it, and it may be more likely to pass.

"Payday loans are a debt trap. That has been shown by every state that collects data. That's why we need data here," Hilton said.

But passage could be an uphill battle. Utah legislators in recent years have approved only a few modest regulations on the industry and killed much tougher restrictions sought by critics. That came as the industry has made significant donations to lawmakers.

In 2007 — which was not an election year — the industry gave $30,200 combined to 37 legislators (out of 104 total). Payday lenders gave more than credit unions or banks, which are traditionally some of the biggest donors in the state.