Justice Department and Lewiston schools strike deal on reforms sunjournal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sunjournal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Rent relief slowly making its way to Maine tenants and landlords
The latest 2 federal stimulus packages have earmarked a total of $352 million for Maine to keep tenants housed and cover amounts owed to landlords and utility providers.
Share
Ivan Zhaya stands outside an apartment building in Portland’s West End. Zhaya lost his job in December and recently was approved for rent relief, for $3,300 owed for the first three months of this year and the same amount to cover April, May and June rent. Now he can work at paying down $40,000 in student loans, build up savings and consider buying a car. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
Maine senator calls for crackdown on ‘snake oil and fine print’ payday loans
State Sen. Rick Bennett of Oxford calls for limits on how much lenders can charge for short-term loans to hard-pressed Mainers.
Share
The effective U.S. payday loan interest rates, by state, for a $300 loan. In Maine, it’s 217%, the second highest in New England.
Center for Responsible Lending
Desperate for cash and unable to access traditional lenders for all sorts of reasons, some Mainers turn to financial outfits that give out payday loans with terms that are sometimes impossible to pay back.
In a bid to offer better protection, state Sen. Rick Bennett, R-Oxford, told a legislative committee this week that too many Mainers are “misinformed, bilked, conned and abused by unscrupulous predator lenders, often when they are in dire personal circumstances as well and most vulnerable to snake oil and fine print.”
Maine senator calls for crackdown on snake oil and fine print payday loans centralmaine.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from centralmaine.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.