State publishes new consumer guide on high-cost loans
Maine state officials have released “The Downeaster Common Sense Guide to High Interest/High Cost Loans,” a new digital and print consumer guidebook on high-interest, high-cost loans.
Topics covered in the guide include buy-here-pay-here auto loans, payday loans, furniture and appliance loans, private student loans and non-bank finance company lending.
The guide also has chapters on credit cards, casino loans, debt consolidation plans and how to avoid common debt traps that potentially can affect many moderate- to low-income Maine families.
“Whenever Maine consumers are tempted to turn to high-interest rate loan and credit products, they should understand the potential consequences and be aware of less costly alternatives,” Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection Principal Examiner David Leach, who coauthored the guide, said in a release.
The new consumer guidebook and past Downeaster financial publications are available online. Physical copies of the guide can be ordered online by calling the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection at 1-800-332-8529 (toll-free in Maine) or 624-8527.
“The publication reinforces the fact that credit costs real money, loans are never free and the loans highlighted in this new booklet, if not carefully comparison-shopped for, can have a very negative effect on a family’s budget,” Kyrie Johnson, an intern with the bureau and co-author of the guidebook, said in a statement.
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