In California and elsewhere, African Americans and Latinos have been found to make up a disproportionate share of payday loan borrowers. This paper evaluates whether and why the relative concentration of African American and Latino households is a factor that influences the location and...

State legislatures authorized short-term payday loans at triple-digit rates in the 1990s and early 2000s. Since the start of this authorization, the payday lending industry has grown tremendously, from around 500 locations in 1990 to over 22,000 locations across 35 states today. While this seems...

Debt settlement companies purport to offer debt-burdened consumers a way to become debt-free while paying substantially less than what they owe, particularly on their credit cards. Updates to the Federal Trade Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule in 2010 improved consumer protections by...