Soldiers as Consumers: Predatory and Unfair Business Practices Harming the Military Community

Many families across the country face emergency expenses and times when their monthly budgets just don't cover it all. Like the rest of us, our soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines are consumers and young ones at that. Their steady paychecks and relative job security make them appealing targets for unscrupulous businesses. There are a variety of lenders that want to help. They offer their products to help them bridge those financial moments and gaps. It becomes a very different story; however, when these products involve predatory components such as egregiously high interest rates, which in some cases top 300 percent, high fees or waivers of certain rights hidden in fine print of contracts. One news account highlighted the case of a marine staff sergeant who took out an auto title loan for $1,600 without realizing that the fine print of the contract required him to pay back more than $17,000 over two and a half years. A Federal law called the Military Lending Act is supposed to protect servicemembers from this kind of abuse, but that law only covers loans with a term of 6 months or less.

Author: Science And Tran Committee on Commerce

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Publication Date: Oct 05, 2014

Number of Pages: 72 pages

Binding: Paperback or Softback

ISBN-10: 150259160X

ISBN-13: 9781502591609