In late December, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a report covering the financial health of American households. Here is the report summary: In 2022, consumer financial health continued to be buoyed by pandemic relief, high employment, and increased savings accumulated during the first year of the pandemic. But financial health was no longer as […]
Category Archives: Other Lending, Debt, and Credit Issues
Here. The first episode features a conversation with Abbye Atkinson, professor at Berkeley Law, about her article, Borrowing Equality, published in the Columbia Law Review, and the relationship among credit, debt, social relationships, inequality, and what should be done to pave the way for a better world for borrowers. The podcast will broadcast conversations with […]
The effort was led by Berkeley's Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice and resulted in production of a series of short memoranda available here. Topics covered include discrimination, arbitration, income share agreements, BNPL, substitution effects of regulation, disclosures, overdraft protections, and more.
Matthew A. Edwards of Baruch has written The Concept and Federal Crime of Mortgage Fraud, 57 American Criminal Law Review (2020). Here is the abstract: The impact of mortgage fraud on the United States financial and economic system during the past twenty years has been severe and enduring. Nothing illustrates this fact better than the […]
by Jeff Sovern So Reuters reports here. According to the report, "customers applying for a new mortgage will need a credit score of at least 700, and will be required to make a down payment equal to 20% of the home’s value." One implication is that JPMorgan Chase at least suspects that traditional credit scores […]
Here. Excerpt: Companies like National Debt Relief seek out heavily indebted consumers with a promise to help them get out from under it. But regulators say these debt-settlement programs can leave customers worse off, facing high fees, damaged credit scores and unexpected income-tax bills. * * * Data from credit-reporting companies has been used by some debt-settlement […]
by Jeff Sovern Many consumer laws require that businesses make "clear and conspicuous" disclosures. See, e.g., Reg Z, 12 C.F.R. 1026.17(a)(1) (closed-end loans). But increasingly, consumers are obtaining loans through mobile phones. How can any disclosure on those tiny screens be clear and conspicuous? When the Fed thought about this issue back in 2007, it […]
Today, my colleagues at U.S. PIRG Education Fund and the Frontier Group released a new report, “Driving Into Debt: The Hidden Cost of Risky Auto Loans to Consumers and Our Communities.” According to the executive summary (emphasis in original): In much of America, access to a car is all but required to hold a job […]
Last week, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York issued its quarterly report on U.S. household debt and credit. It found that—for the 16th straight quarter—aggregate household debt balances increased in the second quarter of 2018. Debt from mortgage loans, auto loans, and credit cards increased, while outstanding student loan debt decreased. On the bright […]
Yesterday, the New York Times ran a distressing story by personal finance reporter Tara Siegel Bernard about the increasing rate of people 65 and older filing for bankruptcy protection. The story relies on a study that was recently released by professors Deborah Thorne of the University of Idaho, Pamela Foohey of the Indiana University Maurer School […]