Word: borrowers
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...culprit of the crunch is clearly the Federal Reserve's credit squeeze. Would-be house buyers are now finding it difficult to obtain money to borrow, and when they do, the rates are high enough to make any bail bondsman blush. The nation's average mortgage rate today is an astronomical 17%, vs. 11% late last year and 9% in 1977. Last November a family buying a $100,000 house would have needed an income of $36,500 to qualify for the normal $80,000 mortgage, and faced monthly payments of $761. Today, obtaining a mortgage for that...
Small as it is, Carter's program will pinch consumers further before it yields its desired effects. On March 14, the President authorized the Federal Reserve Board to curb consumer credit, on the theory that heavy borrowing has fueled inflationary buying. The Fed immediately issued tough guidelines. Last week banks, department stores and other lenders began setting up rules to stay within the guidelines. Samples from Manhattan's Citibank, the second largest bank in the U.S.: no new Visa or Master Card credit cards; cash advances on existing cards to be limited to $300, vs. a previous maximum...
...built-and then had to sell before ever moving in-was one reason they were in trouble; another was the $1,200 that they had accumulated in medical bills. Hard pressed for cash, the couple had begun to rely heavily on credit cards late in 1978. "We'd borrow from Diners Club to meet the utility payments and from Visa to pay for groceries," recalls Lynda. Eventually, that house of cards collapsed. Buried under bills and harassed by creditors, the Hobsons turned to an attorney, who sought shelter for them under the recently overhauled federal Bankruptcy Act. The Hobsons...
...squeeze between high interest rates and local usury laws. In New York, for example, the maximum interest on credit-card purchases is 18% on an annual basis for the first $500 and 12% on everything above that. But banks are now paying as much as 19% to borrow the money they lend. Citibank, the nation's second largest financial institution, has threatened to incorporate all its Visa and MasterCard business in South Dakota, where bank cards may charge as much as 24%, unless New York raises the level of interest that can be charged. Chicago's First National...
Retail stores have also been hit. In 1978 Sears, Roebuck and Co. lost $7 million on its credit operations, while J.C. Penney's ran $34 million in the red. Last year's losses were even higher. Reason: the companies, like banks, have to borrow the money they loan at a higher interest rate than they can charge...