By Becky Yerak December 30, 2008 CashNetUSA.com isn’t your typical financial-services business. For one, at a time when 140,000 industry jobs have been lost nationally year to date, the Chicago-based online payday lender is hiring. For another, the...
By Dominc Fortini December 29, 2008 A group of consumer advocates is warning against borrowing holiday cash from payday loan stores. Citizen Action Illinois is urging Illinois residents to avoid the high fee loans and is calling for a...
Perhaps most importantly, the Fed will forbid lenders from raising the interest on past balances, a practice that has drawn sharp criticism from borrowers and consumer advocates who claim this practice makes it impossible to compare the long term...
OTS_dec2008_R2-2008-0202_republicwrittentestimony _2_.pdf Testimony presented to the Office of Thrift Supervision opposing Republic Bancorp’s application for a charter conversion from a bank holding company to a savings and loan holding company. Discusses the impact of the RAL product on lower-income...
By Robert Mitchum December 11, 2008 Reporting from Chicago — Laid-off workers at Republic Windows & Doors agreed to leave the closed Illinois plant they’ve been occupying in protest for six days, accepting a deal Wednesday night that...
All too often, these type of important regulatory matters fly under the radar of community investment organizations, policymakers, and the media, and significant changes or expansions of high-cost, asset-stripping lending practices go unchallenged. Because of the thoughtful comments of...
By Rowena Vergara December 10, 2008 Tom Baumgartner is on the front lines of the housing collapse. The Kane County sheriff’s lieutenant has to coordinate sales on properties that have been foreclosed. Back in March, Baumgartner estimated 900...
These maps offer neighbors, local non-profits, and policymakers the ability to get an up-to-date picture of how foreclosures are affecting their communities. EveryBlock offers an unprecedented granularity and depth of local news in Chicago and 10 other cities. The...
By Preston Sparks December 8, 2008 Last week, Cicely Luis witnessed yet another case of a foreclosed home attracting criminals. Cicely Luis, a Realtor who lists homes for foreclosure companies, has seen several of them become the target...
By Elena Ferrarin December 5, 2008 More and more people locally and across the country are being affected by the mortgage crisis, and experts predict the situation will get even more dire as families continue to struggle with...