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Where is government when you need it? There is an alarming trend running rampant across our across our country. Payday loan stores, rent-to-own centers, check cashing stores, sub-prime home mortgage companies and other "predatory lenders" taking money out of the pockets of this country's working class of people in plain view of the law. Who is regulating their actions? These predatory lenders wreak havoc on trusting, honest, hard working people. My office has been seeing more and more grandparents being forced into bankruptcy or foreclosures, our heroic military soldiers spiraling into debt and hardworking parents being sued for defaulting on loans that can't keep up with. From one end of our country to the other, those who can least afford it are being scammed out of their hard earned money that could have been used to send their kids to college, pay their day to day expenses and ever increasing utility bills, purchase much needed medications or just put food on the table. These predatory lenders are making money "hand over fist", while working-class Americans are getting trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and debt. There have been studies that show while most middle-class Americans borrow money at rates ranging from 5 to 24 percent, many poor and elderly people are being charged exorbitant fees and interest rates to buy needed appliances or a home, cash their paychecks or take out small loans. Although the concept of high-interest loans is nothing new, unscrupulous check cashing stores, payday loan facilities and rent-to-own facilities have increased in numbers considerably over the last decade. These predatory lenders justify their high interest rates by advocating they are willing tread into situations where normal lenders fear to go -- people with bad credit, few assets, or small incomes. So therefore, their risk should be compensated. With an outcry from advocates of decency with an interest in or on behalf of the working class, the injustices of predatory lending might, just might, mind you, speak to that portion of the public Richard Nixon described as "the silent majority" -- both those affected and those who care. Don't think that being ripped off is just a product of certain lenders as listed above. Equally culpable, insidious and unscrupulous are banks. They act as if they are accountable to no one, hide through switch - a - roo - telephone systems where people never know anything, redirect your calls and blame you for asking questions particularly when they themselves do not know the answers. Did you ever wonder who regulates the banks besides themselves? Think about the razzle dazzle and cost associated with car repossessions. Baloney promises refinance promise and thugs hired to repossess are what banks do to protect their precious loans.
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