Fringe Banking

The Gender Divide in Payday Lending

10/15/12

Nathalie Martin has done great work and has posted comments on Creditslips.org regarding payday lending. I also have been interested in how these payday loans prey on consumers with the least resources and power, and have helped consumers with related issues through my outreach work. At the same time, I have had the privilege to have students like Adria Robinson, who take great interest in these consumer issues.

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Is Loaning Money at a 350% APR Evil?

03/29/12

In the early part of this year, a new start-up called ZestCash launched.

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Credit for Parenthood (in the Wall Street Journal)

02/23/12

Wall Street Journal Reporter Jessica Silver-Greenberg casts a spotlight on the market for fertility treatment loans - including loans that enable the purchase of other women's eggs  - in the article "In Vitro a Fertile Niche for Lenders."  (subscription required).

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Buy Here Pay Here Dealerships

01/03/12

The LA Times did a three-part series this fall on what they call "Buy Here Pay Here" car dealerships. (Here is Part One, Part Two, and Part Three).

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Occupy Wall Street, "Fringe Banking" and Public Options

10/07/11

I happened to walk by Zuccoti Park in Manhattan yesterday, where the Occupy Wall Street protest is centered. I picked up a few pieces of protester literature. I can't say that I was in any way comprehensive in my collection. Some of the literature was just nuts, e.g., a flier blathering about admiralty law usurping the common law and the Trading with the Enemies Act. This flier could just as easily have been found at a Tea Party gathering. It gave new meaning to the term "fringe banking." 

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Minnesota Attorney General Sues 5 Internet Payday Lenders for Automatically Extending Loans

09/07/11

The five lenders, Flobridge Group LLC, Silver Leaf Management and Upfront Payday, all of Utah; and Integrity Advance and Sure Advance LLC,  were each sued separately for violating Minnesota’s small loan laws.  The total U.S. market for Internet payday loans is estimated at $10.8 billion.

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Is it That Hard to Find a Good Payday Loan? One Woman Paid $900 in Finders Fees

07/14/11

Following our prison visit in clinic this past week, we promised to report on a brand new (to us) scam, one involving a company that helps people “find” payday lenders. My student Bridget Mullins reports on it here.

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