New Orleans I have to confess I have often been skeptical of programs claiming to protect consumers that trumpet transparency as a major feature of the reform. I can show the scars still from negotiations with predatory lenders and tax preparation companies, who would easily agree to full disclosure of their effective interest rates and …
Tag: predatory lending
Bank of America’s Countrywide: One of the Worst Deals Ever
New Orleans – In one of the many articles on yet another multi-$100 million settlement, one story, almost in an aside, stated that the purchase of Countrywide’s assets by Bank of America, was “one of the worst deals ever.” The price tag for Bank of America has been billions. This settlement with the Justice Department …
A Corrupt Credit Business Model Travels to Chile and Brazil
New Orleans Cred it card scams are the bad penny perfected in the United States that is turning up now elsewhere in the world. These practices are not the foul play of bad actors as predatory lenders always claim, but intrinsic elements of corrupt, exploitive business models. The economic success stories in Brazil and Chile …