Protocol: Lendtable helps people max out their 401(k)s. So what’s the catch?
A fintech startup wants to give people cash to take advantage of employer match programs that might otherwise be out of their reach. Advocates have concerns.
Chicago Sun-Times: High-interest loans in Chicago target Black neighborhoods
By Stephanie Zimmerman, November 26, 2021 Using 2019 borrower loan data obtained from state regulators, the nonprofit Woodstock Institute found the top ZIP codes for payday loans, excluding the Loop, were majority-Black… Brent Adams, senior vice president of the...
Evanston Now: State law causing payday loan stores to close
By Jeff Hirsch, November 4, 2021 Brent Adams, of the Illinois-based Woodstock Institute, a liberal policy study group, says borrowers initially feel they will be able to repay say, $500 on time. But, he says, “research shows that a...
Crain’s Chicago Business: First Midwest buyer accused of home-lending discrimination as Fed mulls approval
By Steve Daniels, October 21, 2021 “This (lawsuit) is painting the Federal Reserve into a corner,” says Horacio Mendez, CEO of Chicago-based Woodstock Institute, a 48-year-old fair-lending organization. “I don’t believe this is a delay. I think they have...
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Nicklaus: Jefferson Bank finds itself in another fight, this time over buyer’s lending practices
By David Nicklaus, October 21, 2021 Horacio Mendez, president of the Woodstock Institute in Chicago, called the data “prima facie evidence” of “egregious redlining.” Woodstock, which does research on economic justice, joined the coalition seeking to block the merger. Complicating the...
St. Louis Business Journal: Consumer groups cite minority lending in opposition to merger of First Mid Bancshares, St. Louis-based parent of Jefferson Bank and Trust
By James Drew, October 19, 2021 SLEHCRA and two other groups, the Woodstock Institute and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, submitted letters Monday opposing the merger to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. In addition to urging regulators to...
Editorial: An urgent task for City Hall. Tackle the lending gap that holds back the South, West sides.
A city neighborhood isn’t merely a hodgepodge of housing and businesses. It’s an amalgam of anchoring entities that keep it alive and thriving, that gives it a defining sense of community. Those anchors include schools, of course. Churches. Parks....
NextCity: Chicago Finally Getting Serious About Where It Deposits City Cash
By Oscar Perry Abello, September 14, 2021 The audit’s arrival at the end of August is timely, as Chicago City Council is set to vote today on a measure that would update and strengthen Chicago’s Responsible Banking Ordinance and...
WBEZ: How Chicago’s City Council Aims to Push Banks to Lend Fairly
By Claudia Morell and Linda Lutton, September 14, 2021 “…In addition to providing lending data, banks would have to provide an annual racial breakdown of their staff, something that’s already required of many companies that do business with the...
Consumer Reports: New Lending Law Could Protect Car Buyers From High Fees
Consumer advocates say the law protects car buyers by making the true cost of their auto loans more clear, and could pressure lenders to offer more favorable terms. The law does not apply to loans from banks, but does...