New city of Houston rules restricting the size, refinancing, and payment terms of auto-title and so-called payday loans went into effect on Tuesday. A total of 309 payday lenders had registered with the city by that date, somewhat shy of the total 361 such institutions the city had previously identified. And the Houston Chronicle has scooped up all the collected data to build the interactive map shown above, which shows the locations of the newly registered cash outlets. Unfortunately, the map does not directly indicate which locations are in strip centers or adjacent to nail salons.

Mike Morris’s accompanying report on the new rules includes this nugget demonstrating the valiant efforts of the payday-loan industry to reduce traffic in the area, by removing the overfinanced vehicles of its customers from already taxed streets: “In the 10-county Houston region, home to a fourth of the state’s 3,240 such lenders,” Morris writes, “data show borrowers refinance more and pay on time less than state averages, and that more than 100 title borrowers have their cars repossessed each week.”

• City awaits complaints as payday loan rules go into effect [Houston Chronicle ($)]

Map: Houston Chronicle