How the Other Half Banks

How the Other Half Banks

Author: Mehrsa Baradaran

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2015-10-06

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0674495446

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The United States has two separate banking systems today—one serving the well-to-do and another exploiting everyone else. How the Other Half Banks contributes to the growing conversation on American inequality by highlighting one of its prime causes: unequal credit. Mehrsa Baradaran examines how a significant portion of the population, deserted by banks, is forced to wander through a Wild West of payday lenders and check-cashing services to cover emergency expenses and pay for necessities—all thanks to deregulation that began in the 1970s and continues decades later. “Baradaran argues persuasively that the banking industry, fattened on public subsidies (including too-big-to-fail bailouts), owes low-income families a better deal...How the Other Half Banks is well researched and clearly written...The bankers who fully understand the system are heavily invested in it. Books like this are written for the rest of us.” —Nancy Folbre, New York Times Book Review “How the Other Half Banks tells an important story, one in which we have allowed the profit motives of banks to trump the public interest.” —Lisa J. Servon, American Prospect


Loan Sharks

Loan Sharks

Author: Charles R. Geisst

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2017-04-04

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 0815729014

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Predatory lending: A problem rooted in the past that continues today. Looking for an investment return that could exceed 500 percent annually; maybe even twice that much? Private, unregulated lending to high-risk borrowers is the answer, or at least it was in the United States for much of the period from the Civil War to the onset of the early decades of the twentieth century. Newspapers called the practice “loan sharking” because lenders employed the same ruthlessness as the great predators in the ocean. Slowly state and federal governments adopted laws and regulations curtailing the practice, but organized crime continued to operate much of the business. In the end, lending to high-margin investors contributed directly to the Wall Street crash of 1929. Loan Sharks is the first history of predatory lending in the United States. It traces the origins of modern consumer lending to such older practices as salary buying and hidden interest charges. Yet, as Geisst shows, no-holds barred loan sharking is not a thing of the past. Many current lending practices employed today by credit card companies, payday lenders, and providers of consumer loans would have been easily recognizable at the end of the nineteenth century. Geisst demonstrates the still prevalent custom of lenders charging high interest rates, especially to risky borrowers, despite attempts to control the practice by individual states. Usury and loan sharking have not disappeared a century and a half after the predatory practices first raised public concern.


The Unbanking of America

The Unbanking of America

Author: Lisa Servon

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 2017-01-10

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 0544611187

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Why Americans are fleeing our broken banking system: “Startling and absorbing…Required reading for fans of muckraking authors like Barbara Ehrenreich.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) What do an undocumented immigrant in the South Bronx, a high-net-worth entrepreneur, and a twentysomething graduate student have in common? All three are victims of our dysfunctional mainstream bank and credit system. Nearly half of all Americans live from paycheck to paycheck, and income volatility has doubled over the past thirty years. Banks, with their high monthly fees and overdraft charges, are gouging their lower- and middle-income customers while serving only the wealthiest Americans. Lisa Servon delivers a stunning indictment of America’s banks, together with eye-opening dispatches from inside a range of banking alternatives that have sprung up to fill the void. She works as a teller at RiteCheck, a check-cashing business in the South Bronx, and as a payday lender in Oakland. She looks closely at the workings of a tanda, an informal lending club. And she delivers engaging, hopeful portraits of the entrepreneurs reacting to the unbanking of America by designing systems to creatively serve those outside the one percent. “Valuable evidence on the fragility of the personal economies of most Americans these days.”—Kirkus Reviews “An intelligent plea for financial justice…[An] excellent book.”—The Christian Science Monitor


Asset Building and Low-income Families

Asset Building and Low-income Families

Author: Signe-Mary McKernan

Publisher: The Urban Insitute

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 9780877667544

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Low-income families have scant savings to cushion a job loss or illness, and can find economic mobility impossible without funds to invest in education, homes, or businesses. And though a lack of resources leaves such families vulnerable, income-support programs are often closed to those with a bit of savings or even a car. Considering welfare-to-work reforms, the increasingly advanced skill demands of the American workforce, and our stretched Social Security system, such an approach is inadequate to lift families out of poverty. Asset-based policies--allowing or even helping low-income families build wealth--are an increasingly popular strategy to facilitate financial stability.


The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report

Author: Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

Publisher: Cosimo, Inc.

Published: 2011-05-01

Total Pages: 692

ISBN-13: 1616405414

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, published by the U.S. Government and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in early 2011, is the official government report on the United States financial collapse and the review of major financial institutions that bankrupted and failed, or would have without help from the government. The commission and the report were implemented after Congress passed an act in 2009 to review and prevent fraudulent activity. The report details, among other things, the periods before, during, and after the crisis, what led up to it, and analyses of subprime mortgage lending, credit expansion and banking policies, the collapse of companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the federal bailouts of Lehman and AIG. It also discusses the aftermath of the fallout and our current state. This report should be of interest to anyone concerned about the financial situation in the U.S. and around the world.THE FINANCIAL CRISIS INQUIRY COMMISSION is an independent, bi-partisan, government-appointed panel of 10 people that was created to "examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States." It was established as part of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009. The commission consisted of private citizens with expertise in economics and finance, banking, housing, market regulation, and consumer protection. They examined and reported on "the collapse of major financial institutions that failed or would have failed if not for exceptional assistance from the government."News Dissector DANNY SCHECHTER is a journalist, blogger and filmmaker. He has been reporting on economic crises since the 1980's when he was with ABC News. His film In Debt We Trust warned of the economic meltdown in 2006. He has since written three books on the subject including Plunder: Investigating Our Economic Calamity (Cosimo Books, 2008), and The Crime Of Our Time: Why Wall Street Is Not Too Big to Jail (Disinfo Books, 2011), a companion to his latest film Plunder The Crime Of Our Time. He can be reached online at www.newsdissector.com.


Short-Term, Small-Dollar Lending

Short-Term, Small-Dollar Lending

Author: Congressional Research Service

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2017-07-20

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13: 9781973784029

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Short-term, small-dollar loans are consumer loans with relatively low initial principal amounts (often less than $1,000) with relatively short repayment periods (generally weeks or months). Short-term, small-dollar loan products are frequently used to cover cash-flow shortages that may occur due to unexpected expenses or periods of inadequate income. Small-dollar loans can be offered in various forms and by various types of lenders. Banks and credit unions (depositories) can make small-dollar loans through financial products such as credit cards, credit card cash advances, and checking account overdraft protection programs. Small-dollar loans can also be provided by nonbank lenders (alternative financial service [AFS] providers), such as payday lenders and automobile title lenders. The extent that borrower financial situations would be made worse from the use of expensive credit or from limited access to credit is widely debated. Consumer groups often raise concerns regarding the affordability of small-dollar loans. Borrowers pay rates and fees for small-dollar loans that may be considered expensive. Borrowers may also fall into debt traps, situations where borrowers repeatedly roll over existing loans into new loans and subsequently incur more charges rather than completely paying off the loans. Although the vulnerabilities associated with debt traps are more frequently discussed in the context of nonbank products such as payday loans, borrowers may still find it difficult to repay outstanding balances and face additional charges on loans such as credit cards that are provided by depositories. Conversely, the lending industry often raises concerns regarding the reduced availability of small-dollar credit. Regulations aimed at reducing costs for borrowers may result in higher costs for lenders, possibly limiting or reducing credit availability for financially distressed individuals. This report provides an overview of the small-dollar consumer lending markets and related policy issues. Descriptions of basic short-term, small-dollar cash advance products are presented. Current federal and state regulatory approaches to consumer protection in small-dollar lending markets are also explained, including a summary of a proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to implement federal requirements that would act as a floor for state regulations. The CFPB estimates that its proposal would result in a material decline in small-dollar loans offered by AFS providers. The CFPB proposal has been subject to debate. The Financial CHOICE Act of 2017, which was passed by the House of Representatives on June 8, 2017, would prevent the CFPB from exercising any rulemaking, enforcement, or any other authority with respect to payday loans, vehicle title loans, or other similar loans. After discussing the policy implications of the CFPB proposal, this report examines general pricing dynamics in the small-dollar credit market. The degree of market competitiveness, which may be revealed by analyzing market price dynamics, may provide insights concerning affordability and availability options for users of certain small-dollar loan products. The Appendix discusses how to conduct meaningful price comparisons using the annual percentage rate (APR) as well as some general information about loan pricing.


The Charles Schwab Guide to Finances After Fifty

The Charles Schwab Guide to Finances After Fifty

Author: Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz

Publisher: Crown Currency

Published: 2014-04-01

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 0804137374

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Here at last are the hard-to-find answers to the dizzying array of financial questions plaguing those who are age fifty and older. The financial world is more complex than ever, and people are struggling to make sense of it all. If you’re like most people moving into the phase of life where protecting—as well as growing-- assets is paramount, you’re faced with a number of financial puzzles. Maybe you’re struggling to get your kids through college without drawing down your life’s savings. Perhaps you sense your nest egg is at risk and want to move into safer investments. Maybe you’re contemplating downsizing to a smaller home, but aren’t sure of the financial implications. Possibly, medical expenses have become a bigger drain than you expected and you need help assessing options. Perhaps you’ll shortly be eligible for social security but want to optimize when and how to take it. Whatever your specific financial issue, one thing is certain—your range of choices is vast. As the financial world becomes increasingly complex, what you need is deeply researched advice from professionals whose credentials are impeccable and who prize clarity and straightforwardness over financial mumbo-jumbo. Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz and the Schwab team have been helping clients tackle their toughest money issues for decades. Through Carrie’s popular “Ask Carrie” columns, her leadership of the Charles Schwab Foundation, and her work across party lines through two White House administrations and with the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability, she has become one of America’s most trusted sources for financial advice. Here, Carrie will not only answer all the questions that keep you up at night, she’ll provide answers to many questions you haven’t considered but should.


Payday Loans and Deposit Advance Products

Payday Loans and Deposit Advance Products

Author: Consumer Financial Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2014-05-09

Total Pages: 46

ISBN-13: 9781499397031

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

During the past year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has engaged in an in-depth review of short-term small dollar loans, specifically payday loans extended by non-depository institutions and deposit advance products offered by a small, but growing, number of depository institutions to their deposit account customers. This review began with a field hearing held in Birmingham, Alabama in January 2012. At that event, CFPB Director Richard Cordray noted that "the purpose of the field hearing, and the purpose of all our research and analysis and outreach on these issues, is to help us figure out how to determine the right approach to protect consumers and ensure that they have access to a small loan market that is fair, transparent, and competitive." Director Cordray went on to state that "through forums like this and through our supervision program, we will systematically gather data to get a complete picture of the payday market and its impact on consumers," including how consumers "are affected by long-term use of these products."