How do you know if you are a victim of predatory lending?

Answer 1

There is the occasional unscrupulous loan officer who misrepresents his or her product to make a buck. He or she may try to sell you something you don't understand, such as a product with a great introductory rate ("teaser rate") that later skyrockets into a massive liability. He or she may offer you what seems to be a competetive loan rate, which suddenly doubles once you add fees and administrative costs and his or her commission. This is predatory lending. You are a victim of predatory lending if you could not (or did not) understand what you were agreeing to, and a loan officer took advantage of that. There are legal recourses for this, including the loan officer losing his or her license to sell financial products. You are NOT a victim of predatory lending because you pay a high interest rate, you decide now that you can't handle the debt you took on, or you saw an ad on TV by a sleazy trial lawyer promising to make you a "victim" in a big lawsuit.