Republic meets before judge with FDIC: The FDIC was supposed to bring an action against Republic Bank before an administrative judge. The hearing was scheduled for April 18th in Louisville. The FDIC is pursuing an argument that Republic’s refund anticipation loans undermine the safety and soundness of the bank. Republic will likely counter with data that shows how their RALs performed during this tax season.

The market seems to have decided that the FDIC won’t succeed. Republic’s stock is still at $20 a share. Unless investors are willing to grant a very high multiple to their shares, the price would seem to assume that RAL earnings are going to be available next year. Jackson Hewitt shares are floating at 60 cents.

Continental Prison Systems rolls on: Continental Prison System reached an agreement to put their EZ Card Kiosk in to Riker’s Island in New York City. The New York Post had reported that such a deal was under a discussion. A long time – 18 months – had passed since then and so this is a bit of a surprise. Now it is finally a reality. It also seems that CPSZ will get into the bail bonds business.

PMI Companies Disdainful of Qualified Residential Mortgage Rules: Kevin Schneider, CEO of Genworth and President of the trade group Mortgage Insurance Companies of America, contested the suggestion of putting a twenty percent exemption standard into the new QRM rules. According to Schneider, that rule would mean that a family with an income of $50,000 would need to save for 11 years before they could afford to buy a home priced at the average value in the United States ($153,000).

What is the best option for a consumer seeking an unsecured loan?

Peer-to-peer lending bubbled up in 2006 at Prosper, during the innovation-friendly go-go years. The basic idea is to crowdsource debt. Regular folks search (more…)

Editor’s note: This is an account, written by a local businessman, about how a small town was able to keep a bank. Lake Lure, North Carolina is a forested community in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

They once had two banks. In 2010, one branch closed as part of an effort by a regional community bank to shore up its balance sheet. Last year, following the acquisition of their other local bank (Carolina First) by Canadian banking giant TD North, they received the word that their bank would be closed. TD North suggested that customers that still wanted the services of a branch bank should drive 20 miles to Hendersonville, North Carolina.

The New York Times recently chronicled the scores of small towns, mostly poor, that are losing their banks. Lake Lure is not a poor town.  Lake Lure is endowed with a lot of great things: It has plenty of natural beauty which attracts plenty of tourists. Over the years, it has become a retirement destination for many seniors. Its down town never lost its vitality.

Lake Lure didn’t take the news and just roll over. Instead, they created a team of local leaders that included businessmen, the local town government, a state park, the grocery store, and some bankers. They filed a complaint with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency – the primary regulator of the US operations of TD North, and they petitioned to speak directly with the leaders of the bank.

Keeping our Bank Open Here’s how we did it in a small NC mountain town.
by Bill Frykberg
President LogFinish.com Lake Lure NC

Lake Lure is a small mountain town in the Foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We have been
served by a commercial bank for the past 60 years. During the Winter of 2011 we got caught up in the wave of downsizing that is effecting banking nationwide. First in December 2010 a small regional “watch list” bank Mountain First announced that it was closing its Lake Lure branch. (more…)

Debit Card for Prisoners Gaining Interest: Continental Prisons Systems (CPSZ) share prices doubled on Thursday. On Friday, it moved another 34 percent.  Continental Prison has a kiosk and a card that enable prisoners to transfer funds. The cards save prisons a lot of money and help to avoid the issues that come with writing checks to convicts.  For the prisoners, it is a tradeoff: they can support family and friends on the outside, they can walk out with a card and (more…)

60 Minutes has an incredible story detailing how a mortgage document processing company is putting hundreds of thousands of homes in a limbo.

The story describes how one document mill in Alpharetta, Georgia attempted to duplicate lost affidavits of assignment after the originals were lost. Lost documents was a systemic problem. It is a natural problem of non- (more…)