The deregulation of usury ceilings, rise of easy credit, and increasing consumer debt.
I. INTRODUCTION Few laws regarding economic regulation have a longer history than usury laws. (1) Strong attempts to limit usury punctuate Western history. Within the last century, however, these attempts have quickly unraveled. A convergence of factors in the industrialized world has produced the groundbreaking phenomenon of...

Fuzzy math; Learning to live within your means.
Byline: Lisa Eckelbecker Her head bent over a budget questionnaire, Abigail T. Milewski stared at a column of numbers that refused to add up the way she had hoped. A car, an apartment in a major city, donations to charity and chic clothing - no...

Plan to offer foreclosure counseling.
Byline: Joe Mosley The Register-Guard Gov. Ted Kulongoski announced plans on Friday to provide counseling and other assistance to homeowners who may be in danger of mortgage foreclosure, as default rates on home loans continue to rise nationwide. "There are things we can do today...

U.S. financial system: Can it collapse?
Byline: Nick Onnembo Massive asset write-downs of mortgages and other securities - inflamed by a crisis of confidence on Wall Street - have depleted the capital of U.S. financial institutions, inhibiting their ability to provide credit to both corporations and consumers. Capital is simply the difference between...

Metrobank freezes new capital issue.
Byline: FIL C. SIONIL Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company (Metrobank) has put on hold any plans to further improve its capital base until it has digest fully the impact of the stricter risk weight-to-capital Basle 2 ruling. According to Metrobank President Arthur Ty, the management,...

Commercial and consumer credit law - class action remedy unavailable in First Circuit for plaintiffs seeking rescission under Truth in Lending Act.
Commercial and Consumer Credit Law--Class Action Remedy Unavailable in First Circuit for Plaintiffs Seeking Rescission Under Truth in Lending Act-McKenna v. First Horizon Home Loan Corp., 475 F.3d 418 (1st Cir. 2007) The Truth in Lending Act (TILA) provides consumers with the right to rescind their loan...

NEWS IN BRIEF; P/$ rate closed at P52.20 to $1.
The peso rate closed at P52.20 to the US dollar last Friday at the Philippine Dealing System of the Bankers Association of the Philippines. The weighted average rate stands at P52.009. Corn import tender slated Hit by the La NiA[+ or -]a that severely hit...

Tools can help Spanish speakers avoid fraud.
Byline: The Register-Guard Mortgage documents and real estate disclosure statements are hard enough to understand for people whose first language is English. For those whose first language may be Spanish or Chinese or Russian, buying a home in the United States can be especially difficult. ...

Bursting bubbles.
ITEM: "The housing market is rapidly losing touch with reality" warned the September 20 cover story in Fortune magazine, describing the Fed-fueled nationwide housing and mortgage "bubble." "Fueled by interest rates that have remained near record lows, prices have continued to soar, and the gap between home values and...

The number of branches keeps growing.
Total number of bank branches in the United States as of June 2003 87,783 Number of branches added during the previous 12 months 1,204 Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Percentage of bank customers who said either "no" or "did not know" when asked if they went to their bank...