Consumer Law

Borrowing Upswing May Extend to Payday Loans

By Christopher Peterson

Last week I blogged on Federal Reserve Board numbers showing a large upturn in credit card borrowing last January. This morning Reuters is reporting annecdotal evidence of equally troubling growth in payday lending. Here's the Reuters lead:

"As hundreds of thousands of American home owners fall behind on their mortgage payments, more people are turning to short-term loans with sky-high interest rates just to get by.

"While hard figures are hard to come by, evidence from nonprofit credit and mortgage counselors suggests that the number of people using these so-called "pay day loans" is growing as the U.S. housing crisis deepens, a negative sign for economic recovery."

Full post as published by CL&P Blog on March 24, 2008 (boomark / email).