Newly Defanged, Top Consumer Protection Agency Drops Investigation of High-Cost Lender [propublica.org]
In 2013, ProPublica published an investigation of the subprime lender World Finance . World was charging annual interest rates that could exceed 200 percent, often trapping customers in cycles of debt by enticing them to renew the loans over and over. In states where laws barred such high rates, the installment lender loaded many loans with nearly useless insurance products that bloated the cost. The company boasted over 800,000 customers, part of an installment loan industry that claimed to...