Factsheet: Georgia Voters Overwhelmingly Support 36% Rate Cap

Factsheet: Georgia Voters Overwhelmingly Support 36% Rate Cap

Georgia has long been a national leader in the fight against predatory lending, imposing strict usury limits on small loans. In 2004, Georgia legislators closed loopholes used by payday lenders to charge triple-digit interest rates; they reaffirmed their commitment to keeping payday lending out by increasing fines and criminal penalties for making small loans at illegal interest rates. These laws...
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Research
Payday and Other Small Dollar Loans

Report: Unsustainable Student Loan Debt Has Severe Impact on Borrowers of Color

Source
Atlanta Daily World
This week, the Center for Responsible Lending and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) released a report finding that student loan debt is unsustainable for many student borrowers, especially borrowers of color. “ Quicksand: Borrowers Of Color & The Student Debt Crisis” offers policy recommendations for reforming the country’s broken and inefficient student loan system, close...
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Student Loans

Many hope surprise Morehouse gift has ripple effect for other colleges

Source
Eric Stirgus | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Education experts hope billionaire Robert F. Smith’s surprise announcement Sunday that he’ll pay the student loan debt for this spring’s graduating class at Morehouse College will be a game changer. “I hope (Smith) starts off a trend,” former Spelman College president Beverly Tatum said Monday. Rising student loan debt has been one of the most troubling issues in higher education...
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Student Loans

Argosy University’s students worry amid school’s financial problems

Source
Eric Stirgus | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Many Atlanta-area students taking courses at a for-profit university are worried about its future because the school’s parent company is in financial trouble and they say officials are sharing scant information about the situation. Those concerns grew after federal education officials announced Wednesday they are giving the school, Argosy University, two weeks to show why it should continue to participate...
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Student Loans

States without Payday and Car‐title Lending Save $5 Billion in Fees Annually

States without Payday and Car‐title Lending Save $5 Billion in Fees Annually

Payday and car title loans are small-dollar, high-cost products that thrive on keeping consumers in a cycle of debt. With lenders doing essentially no underwriting, consumers find it easy to obtain these loans, often marketed as a solution to financial emergency. However, the unaffordability of the loan and the lenders extreme leverage over the borrowers – either through direct access...
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Research
Payday and Other Small Dollar Loans

Payday and Car Title Lenders Drain Nearly $8 Billion in Fees Every Year

Payday and Car Title Lenders Drain Nearly $8 Billion in Fees Every Year

Payday and car-title loans typically carry annual percentage rates (APR) of at least 300%. These high-cost loans are marketed as quick solutions to a financial emergency. Research demonstrates, however, that they frequently lead to debt that is nearly impossible to escape. In addition, these loans are related to a cascade of other financial consequences, such as increased overdraft fees, delinquency...
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Research
Payday and Other Small Dollar Loans

Testimony on Regulatory Reforms to the Community Reinvestment Act

Testimony on Regulatory Reforms to the Community Reinvestment Act

CRL Senior Policy Counsel Ellen Harnick testifies in a joint public hearing held in Atlanta, GA regarding regulatory reforms to the Community Reinvestment Act, and urges the following improvements to CRA: 1. Broaden CRA assessment areas to reflect the actual scope of bank activity. 2. Require that the activities of bank affiliates count toward the CRA rating of their parent...
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Testimony
Mortgage Lending