Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel filed a lawsuit on December 6th that indicts Mo’ Money Taxes of violating the state’s 2009 Refund Loan Anticipation Act.

Earlier this year, Mo’ Money Taxes decided to voluntarily return its North Carolina refund loan license after the state pursued a claim against the Memphis company for failing to observe state rules requiring disclosures in company offices.

The Arkansas suit alleges that Mo’ Money broke two rules. First, the AG says that MMT failed to post required disclosures in its stores. The law says that pricing for refund anticipation loans has to be clearly displayed.  Secondly, the AG says that they put additional charges on the loans. The RAL act states that the only charges allowed are bank fees.

Banks only have two more weeks to get their existing customers to opt-in for overdraft protection.

I couldn’t believe it at first, but its true: banks are spending their time and money trying to understand the psychological makeup of the typical overdraft user.  One consultant says that it is all about helping the customer to make a “Good NSF Decision.” I will let you guess how they define “good.” The hunt is on. Now.

During the NSF-Hunt, a smart banker seeks first to understand. This is what the consultants are for, of course.  The rules don’t prohibit overdrafts. They just make it a requirement that a consumer gives his or her consent for an overdraft service first.

Still, there’s not a lot of time. If in two weeks, the banks have not found a way to get a consumer to opt-in, then that fee stream will be gone.

It is all about the right “relationship.”You’ve heard that term. It is often the come on for a heavy package of wealth management services, or for private banking.

“The relationship banker is the person who is going to fulfill his or her professional mission by putting himself or herself at the disposal of a decision maker. You’re not building your career on their back, they’re building their industrial purpose on your back.” (Fortune Magazine)

That’s nice. But there are so many people out there, and so little time before August 15th. Moreover, the consumer that knowingly opts-in for overdraft is not typical.

They’re looking for a different type of person. They are seeking to find the co-dependent customer, ideally for a long-term relationship.

To help those bankers with on their NSF hunting, they are seeking help.

The Wall Street Journal has a feature on one of those consultants – David Peterson. Peterson wants the bankers to understand things.

What does a person feel when they get an overdraft? According to Peterson, it is a (more…)

Recent IRS rules impose additional reporting requirements on small non-profits. Having been in place for several years, those rules are now about to have an impact. Thousands and thousands of small non-profits previously did not have to file financial disclosures. Now they do.

In North Carolina, there are many non-profits in this space. Most are small clubs.  Here (more…)

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has just issued a notice of proposed rule-making that will change how the GSEs approach the acquisition of manufactured housing. It is part of a larger response on the treatment of under-served markets, and the proposed rule would effect not just manufactured housing, but also affordable housing preservation and rural housing.

This rule-making is a long time coming, but I am going to contradict the gospel of progressive non-profits acting in this field and say that I think it the very proponents of manufactured housing have conspired to limit the gains that could have come from the FHFA’s interest.

The new rules put the GSEs on the hook to buy more manufactured housing mortgages, and to at least venture into providing capital for parks, too.

If you have followed the story of manufactured housing, you would know that this industry tanked in the early 90s when Greentree and Conseco withdrew from the secondary market for these loans. Good financing dried up. It is hard (more…)

I continue to find evidence that there is a fundamental shift going on in how low-income consumers access the payments system.  Earlier, I wrote at length about MetaBank and their prepaid debit card/line of credit platform developed in conjunction with NetSpend. I made some headway learning about the Emerald Advance and the Emerald Advance line of credit, both from Block.

Later, I made mention of the RushCard – a similiar product issued with funds from Bancorp Bank and M&T Bank.

Today, I see that Bancorp Bank (TBBK) has struck again.  Let’s look at their Eufora Card.  Eufora aims at the segment (more…)