Maryland Bankruptcy Blog » Consumer Rights http://www.bankruptcylawmaryland.com/blog A Service of Brett Weiss, P.C. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:30:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 en Bankruptcy Law, Obama and McCain http://www.bankruptcylawmaryland.com/blog/bankruptcy-law-obama-and-mccain/ http://www.bankruptcylawmaryland.com/blog/bankruptcy-law-obama-and-mccain/#comments Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:41:07 +0000 Brett Weiss, Esq. http://www.bankruptcylawmaryland.com/blog/bankruptcy-law-obama-and-mccain/ Over on the Bankruptcy Law Network, I have been writing a series of blogs on Senators Obama and McCain’s positions on bankruptcy. The results may surprise you.

The articles may be found by clicking on the links:

Obama vs. McCain on Bankruptcy
Obama and McCain’s Votes on Bankruptcy Amendments
Barack Obama on BAPCPA
Barack Obama on Bankruptcy/Credit Reform

]]> http://www.bankruptcylawmaryland.com/blog/bankruptcy-law-obama-and-mccain/feed/ Whatever Happened to Usury Laws? http://www.bankruptcylawmaryland.com/blog/whatever-happened-to-usury-laws/ http://www.bankruptcylawmaryland.com/blog/whatever-happened-to-usury-laws/#comments Wed, 28 May 2008 01:34:53 +0000 Brett Weiss, Esq. http://www.bankruptcylawmaryland.com/blog/whatever-happened-to-usury-laws/ Usury is defined in Webster’s as, “the lending or practice of lending money at an exorbitant interest.” All states, including Maryland, have laws prohibiting usury—in Maryland, the default rate of interest is 6%, and most loans cannot exceed 24%. So how is it that many credit cards have annual rates of 30% or more? How is it that payday loans and tax refund loans have interest rates over 300%?

The answer lies in the federal National Bank Act and a series of Supreme Court decisions.

The National Bank Act, first adopted in 1863, provides for the establishment and regulation of national banks. For more than 100 years, that law was interpreted to require that even national banks can only charge interest at the rate allowed by the state in which its customer is located. In 1978, the Supreme Court changed everything. (more…)

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