Why the Poor Pay More: How to Stop Predatory Lending »

GREGORY D. SQUIRES is Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of Sociology at The George Washington University. Currently on the Board of Directors of the Woodstock Institute and the Advisory Board of the John Marshall Law School Fair Housing Legal Support Center in Chicago, he has served as a consultant and expert witness for fair housing groups and civil rights organizations around the country and as a member of the Consumer Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Board. He has written for several academic journals and general interest publications, including Social Science Quarterly, Urban Affairs Review, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. His recent books include Insurance Redlining, Color and Money, Urban Spraw, and Organizing Access to Capital.

Characterized by exorbitant interest rates and misleading marketing, "predatory" mortgage loans exploit low-income people and even cause some to lose their homes. In this volume, nine contributions from scholars and activists expose the practices of predatory lenders and identify their social, political, and economic consequences. They also outline active roles that individuals, advocacy groups, financial and legal service providers, and policymakers can play in reversing this trend. Squires teaches sociology at The George Washington University. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Foreword: Loan Sharks in Pinstripes by Clarence Page

The New Redlining by Gregory D. Squires

The Targets of Predatory Lending: Who Are They and Where Do They Live? by John Taylor, Josh Silver, and David Berenbaum

The Economic Consequences of Predatory Lending: A Philadelphia Case Study by Ira Goldstein

Predatory Lending Practices: Definition and Behavioral Implications by Patricia A. McCoy

Legal and Economic Inducements to Predatory Practices by Christopher A. Richardson, Deborah N. Goldstein, and Keith Ernst

Community Organization and Advocacy: Fighting Predatory Lending and Making a Difference by Maude Hurd and Lisa Donner, with Camellia Phillips

Designing Federal Legislation That Works: Legal Remedies for Predatory Lending by John Relman, Fred Rivera, Meera Trehan, and Shilpa Satoskar

Predatory Lending Goes Global: Consumer Protection in a Deregulation Network Economy by Matthew Lee

Predatoriness, and What We Can Do about It by Chester Hartman

Appendix: Predatory Lending Resources

Notes

Index

About the Editor and Contributors