"The difference of rates between secured and unsecured loans is higher than I have ever seen," said Scott White, director of counseling services at Westfield High School in New Jersey.
The delinquency rate on home equity loans is higher than all other types of consumer loans, including auto loans, boat loans, personal loans and even bank cards like Visa and MasterCard, according to the American Bankers Association.
Likewise, the interest we pay on home mortgages or college loans is higher than it would be if the big banks that now dominate the financial industry had to work harder to get our business.
Non-performing loans are high and rising fast.
Interest rates on the loans are high – APRs are usually more than 1,000% and some of the best-known firms charge more than 5,000%.
The result has been that at times like now — when net profit margins on loans are high — they have been able to become tremendously profitable, and to, in fact, earn their way out of trouble,as the Obama Administration is counting on.
Because lenders assume more risk, interest rates for nonconforming loans are higher than for conforming.
Some analysts following bank stocks were encouraged to learn that the rate of growth in problem loans was higher at institutions other than banks, a category that includes hedge funds or special portfolios set up to buy loans.
Rates for graduate student loans were higher.
