predatory lending

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What's Crushing So Many Cab Drivers: Not Uber or Lyft

Some say it's the new predatory loan crisis

(Newser) - For many New York City cabbies, the dream is to buy a medallion—a city permit that lets them own a yellow cab. But a cottage industry of sketchy loans and artificially high medallion prices ruined that dream for a generation of drivers, the New York Times reports. "I...

Google Bans 'Deceptive' Ads for All Payday Loans

Some lenders say it's unfair to punish entire industry for predatory 'bad actors'

(Newser) - In a move that earned Google a big "huzzah!" from Wired , the company took a big step Wednesday against predatory lending practices. Starting July 13, no more ads will appear on the site for what it calls "deceptive" payday loans, the AP reports—the first time it'...

Investigation: Warren Buffett Firm Preys on Poor People

His mobile-home company traps buyers in pricey loans, says Seattle Times piece

(Newser) - Warren Buffett's image as an avuncular business genius who has all-American interests at heart might take a hit after a scathing investigation by the Seattle Times and the Center for Public Integrity . It alleges that Clayton Homes, a giant in the mobile-home industry owned by Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway,...

Banks Flout Laws Protecting Troops From Foreclosure

NYT: Mandatory arbitration clauses mean repos, foreclosures for service members

(Newser) - Deployed service members are supposed to be protected by federal laws from repossession and foreclosure. But thanks to mandatory arbitration —a clause in a contract's small print that waives one's right to court intervention—lenders are circumventing the rules, placing the homes and cars of US troops...

How One Company Sues US Military Around the World

USA Discounters offers loans that some experts consider predatory

(Newser) - On the bright side, the Virginia-based retailer USA Discounters offers loans to customers who have no credit. The downside? Those loans may be predatory, and customers who fail to pay will get sued in Virginia courtrooms no matter where they live, Pacific Standard reports. An added wrinkle: Many of the...

It's Time for Reparations for Black Americans
It's Time for Reparations
for Black Americans
OPINION
May 22, 2014 12:55 PM CDT

It's Time for Reparations for Black Americans

Ta-Nehisi Coates starts the conversation in the 'Atlantic'

(Newser) - Ta-Nehisi Coates argues in a lengthy cover story in the Atlantic that America must at long last take up the question of making reparations to black people. He focuses not just on slavery, however, but also on the following 150 years of systemic racism—with banks working in collusion with...

Microfinance Bubble Traps Poor in Debt

Predatory lenders offer easy cash with gouging interest rates

(Newser) - Microfinance, loaning tiny sums to the world's poor to help start small businesses, began as an anti-poverty strategy but quickly became highly profitable for private equity firms and foreign investors. In India, writes the Wall Street Journal, poor neighborhoods are being bombarded with high-interest loan opportunities, resulting in a bizarre...

Obama Wants Credit Card Relief Bill by Memorial Day

(Newser) - Putting himself on the side of fuming consumers, President Obama is pushing for Congress to send him legislation by Memorial Day that would immediately reign in the credit card industry, he said in his radio address this morning. The House has passed a bill banning several predatory practices, but it...

Schumer Wants Faster Action on Credit Cards

Rules on deceptive practices don't take effect until 2010

(Newser) - Sen. Chuck Schumer is putting pressure on the Fed and the Office of Thrift Supervision to enact restrictions on the business practices of credit card firms more quickly, the New York Daily News reports. The agencies have drafted new rules banning deceptive practices like hidden fees and retroactive rate hikes,...

Fed to Crack Down on Subprime Loans

Also plans to extend low-cost overnight loan program for banks

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve will issue new rules next week restricting subprime lending and other exotic loans aimed at borrowers with weak credit, Ben Bernanke said today. He said the Fed is also considering extending the overnight low-cost loan program, which helps big banks in need of quick cash, a sign...

Spitzer Slams Bush for Abetting Bad Lenders
Spitzer Slams Bush for Abetting Bad Lenders
OPINION
Feb 14, 2008 12:12 PM CST

Spitzer Slams Bush for Abetting Bad Lenders

Says feds barred states from halting predators

(Newser) - The Bush administration was a “willing accomplice” to predatory lending practices that cost thousands of Americans their homes and endangered our economy, Eliot Spitzer writes in the Washington Post. When state attorneys general (including Spitzer at the time) tried to act against a spike in deceptive and even illegal...

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