The Asset Building News Week is a weekly Friday feature on The Ladder, the Asset Building Program blog, designed to help readers keep up with news and developments in the asset building field. This week's topics include student loan debt, housing, and upcoming events.
Assets and Debt
The New York Times covers a problem with student loan debt that “arises from a little-noticed provision in private loan contracts: If the co-signer dies or files for bankruptcy, the loan holder can demand complete repayment, even if the borrower’s record is spotless. If the loan is not repaid, it is declared to be in default, doing damage to a borrower’s credit record that can take years to repair.” The Center for Responsible Lending writes: “New evidence suggests that Sallie Mae cheated active-duty soldiers on government student loans.” Mark Huelsman at Demos attributes much of rising student loan debt to “systematic disinvestment in institutions where 75% of college students attend: public colleges and universities.”
Emily Bazelon illustrates the pitfalls of payday lending for the New York Times Magazine: "When the loan came due on her next payday, however, she couldn’t pay it and immediately began to fall behind on the fees. So she took out another loan to cover the first one. And then took out another to cover that one — and then another and another. Eventually she wound up with seven loans, each for only hundreds of dollars, but with annual interest rates of 300 to 500 percent. It wasn’t long before the lenders started calling, she says, threatening with jail if she couldn’t make her payments." According to Marketplace, half of Americans have a net worth of zero, meaning the value of their debts cancels out the value of their assets. Harold Pollack writes for Wonkblog about the way Medicaid policy ensures that millions of people with disabilities or long-term illnesses live in poverty with few assets to their name. One strategy to address this problem is the ABLE Act, which would allow the creation of accounts similar to 529s that can be used to cover expenses related to the care of people with chronic needs.
Housing
The Dallas-based Inclusive Communities Project has initiated a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development alleging that HUD’s policy choices have led to racial discrimination and segregation. Imara Jones for Colorlines reports on recent housing market data and finds a worrisome trend: communities of color, who were hit hardest by the housing crash and accompanying loss of wealth, are not necessarily included in recent gains. “The bottom line is that our lopsided housing recovery is expanding racial and economic inequity, rather than narrowing it.”
Gary Blasi for the Guardian looks at proposed bans on sleeping in cars (an effort to prevent homeless people from “living” in higher-income areas). He looks at the causes of homelessness, the rise of ordinances banning sleeping in cars, and expresses frustration at the criminalization of homelessness.
New York renters will get $1 million in rebates for illegal fees and overcharges after the New York Attorney General reached a settlement with the owners of their buildings.
Quick Hits and Upcoming Events
Next week, on Wednesday and Thursday, check out the Color of Wealth Summit or use the hashtag #racialwealthgap to follow along on Twitter.
Also next week, CFED is hosting their 2014 Children’s Savings Conference, keep an eye out for new releases and policy papers coming out of the conference.
Aleta Sprague, along with colleagues from the Center for Law and Social Policy and the California Reinvestment Coalition, submitted comments to the Department of Health and Human Services with recommendations related to contracts with benefit card service providers. Fees associated with the use of these cards can eat up the already modest benefit levels low-income families receive.
Check out this upcoming webinar about using behavioral economics concepts to understand and shape people’s behavior at tax time.
The gender wage gap starts early, writes Bryce Covert, in the form of disparate allowances for boys and girls. Not only do girls earn less, but they’re reportedly putting in more hours of chores.
Kirk Siegler for NPR reports that farmers in California are laying off farm workers due to a lack of water for their crops and explores the impact this has on unemployment throughout the labor chain.
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Assets and Debt
The New York Times covers a problem with student loan debt that “arises from a little-noticed provision in private loan contracts: If the co-signer dies or files for bankruptcy, the loan holder can demand complete repayment, even if the borrower’s record is spotless. If the loan is not repaid, it is declared to be in default, doing damage to a borrower’s credit record that can take years to repair.” The Center for Responsible Lending writes: “New evidence suggests that Sallie Mae cheated active-duty soldiers on government student loans.” Mark Huelsman at Demos attributes much of rising student loan debt to “systematic disinvestment in institutions where 75% of college students attend: public colleges and universities.”
Emily Bazelon illustrates the pitfalls of payday lending for the New York Times Magazine: "When the loan came due on her next payday, however, she couldn’t pay it and immediately began to fall behind on the fees. So she took out another loan to cover the first one. And then took out another to cover that one — and then another and another. Eventually she wound up with seven loans, each for only hundreds of dollars, but with annual interest rates of 300 to 500 percent. It wasn’t long before the lenders started calling, she says, threatening with jail if she couldn’t make her payments." According to Marketplace, half of Americans have a net worth of zero, meaning the value of their debts cancels out the value of their assets. Harold Pollack writes for Wonkblog about the way Medicaid policy ensures that millions of people with disabilities or long-term illnesses live in poverty with few assets to their name. One strategy to address this problem is the ABLE Act, which would allow the creation of accounts similar to 529s that can be used to cover expenses related to the care of people with chronic needs.
Housing
The Dallas-based Inclusive Communities Project has initiated a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development alleging that HUD’s policy choices have led to racial discrimination and segregation. Imara Jones for Colorlines reports on recent housing market data and finds a worrisome trend: communities of color, who were hit hardest by the housing crash and accompanying loss of wealth, are not necessarily included in recent gains. “The bottom line is that our lopsided housing recovery is expanding racial and economic inequity, rather than narrowing it.”
Gary Blasi for the Guardian looks at proposed bans on sleeping in cars (an effort to prevent homeless people from “living” in higher-income areas). He looks at the causes of homelessness, the rise of ordinances banning sleeping in cars, and expresses frustration at the criminalization of homelessness.
New York renters will get $1 million in rebates for illegal fees and overcharges after the New York Attorney General reached a settlement with the owners of their buildings.
Quick Hits and Upcoming Events
Next week, on Wednesday and Thursday, check out the Color of Wealth Summit or use the hashtag #racialwealthgap to follow along on Twitter.
Also next week, CFED is hosting their 2014 Children’s Savings Conference, keep an eye out for new releases and policy papers coming out of the conference.
Aleta Sprague, along with colleagues from the Center for Law and Social Policy and the California Reinvestment Coalition, submitted comments to the Department of Health and Human Services with recommendations related to contracts with benefit card service providers. Fees associated with the use of these cards can eat up the already modest benefit levels low-income families receive.
Check out this upcoming webinar about using behavioral economics concepts to understand and shape people’s behavior at tax time.
The gender wage gap starts early, writes Bryce Covert, in the form of disparate allowances for boys and girls. Not only do girls earn less, but they’re reportedly putting in more hours of chores.
Kirk Siegler for NPR reports that farmers in California are laying off farm workers due to a lack of water for their crops and explores the impact this has on unemployment throughout the labor chain.
