Live data from Hacker News

Online installment loans have taken the subprime market by storm

bloomberg.com

41–50 of 329 posts

Re: Online installment loans have taken the subprime market by storm

#41
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does your "functioning society" handle the disabled? Into the Soylent Green factory with them?

Their family has that responsibility. I dont mind society creating allowances but the US has went too far and created barriers to small businesses with all of the disability requirements. I have many friends with small businesses that would like to start their own shop but the toilet requirement alone is almost 100k in up front cost. Ridiculous.

> Their family has that responsibility.

Orphans? Abused children? What happens to them?

Re: Online installment loans have taken the subprime market by storm

#42
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that student loans can't be abandoned even if you declare bankruptcy. That one little factor makes them some of the worst loans imaginable in terms of long-term prospects.

Still not worse than triple digit interest rates

Those unpaid predatory loans fall off your credit report after about a decade.

Student loans are forever.

Re: Online installment loans have taken the subprime market by storm

#43
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If filing for bankruptcy had no negative consequences I would agree, but that isn't the case. I agree that we shouldn't be bailing out banks, but we should have a safety net to bail out individuals. People go broke for various reasons, but the hallmark of an accomplished society is being able to ensure a decent quality of life for most people. Telling people to accept personal responsibility for everything that happe…

Conversely if overextending yourself for whatever reason had no consequences, it would be to your disadvantage not to overextend yourself. How do we determine who should be "bailed out"? Seems the issues that are unavoidable that could cause ruin (illness/disability) should be addressed at a higher level than borrowing money with no recourse.

I have no issues with socialized medicine. In fact the fact remains medicare is actually the one functioning health insurance we have because the govt sets the rates that can be charged.

Unregulated healthcare is silly since people dont have a choice about their health ( not discussing the food choices )

People do have a choice about borrowing money.

Re: Online installment loans have taken the subprime market by storm

#44
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does your "functioning society" handle the disabled? Into the Soylent Green factory with them?

Their family has that responsibility. I dont mind society creating allowances but the US has went too far and created barriers to small businesses with all of the disability requirements. I have many friends with small businesses that would like to start their own shop but the toilet requirement alone is almost 100k in up front cost. Ridiculous.

Ask not what the US can do for you, but what you can do for the US.

Isn't this the exact same scenario you're claiming? Your friends should take personal responsibility instead of asking the government to bend to them. No?

(I'm trying to understand your logic here and how it applies to multiple circumstances. I think they're incongruous here, but I don't understand why.)

Re: Online installment loans have taken the subprime market by storm

#45

What's HN's opinion on 0% balance transfers? Yes, there's usually a 3% fee but... I've been able to borrow about $5k-$12k for a one time 3% fee over 18 months multiple times in a row now. I make sure to always pay the balance back before it is due. Why don't more people who need a cash infusion do this?

Be careful with balance transfers. At 18 months, a 3% fee is like a 3.75% APR. If the balance transfer is only 12 months, it's about 5.5%.

Still a lot better than a subprime installment loan, but a 3% fee is not a 3% APR.

Re: Online installment loans have taken the subprime market by storm

#46
post #2

I feel like the government should be offering some type of non predatory debt relief comparable to this. This service is only a detriment to the borrower due to the crazy high interest rates, but I think the government could break even with much more reasonable interest rates, consumers would be better off financially, and the predatory industries would disappear since they can't compete.

I think that would be a terrible idea. The gov't would want to make the debt non-dischargeable like they do with student loans. It would be devastating. Maybe we could try to actually tackle things like medical costs so people aren't getting so deeply into debt to begin with.

You must be too young to remember when loans were dischargeable before the banks got the laws changed.

Re: Online installment loans have taken the subprime market by storm

#47
post #35

Okay these loans certainly sound like a bad deal, but what are people supposed to do? Say your car breaks and you can’t get to work. For all of us here billing out >$100hr or whatever your local consulting rate is, the answer is some calculus around the cost of losing your job vs the cost of fixing it. But for MOST people, the cost of fixing it is functionally infinite. They literally do not have even a few hundred d…

> Instead we should be looking at ways to make it so that giant unpredicted expenses don’t happen at all.

Or maybe fix it from the other end: reduce inequality so fewer people are living paycheck to paycheck and can actually build savings to use for unpredicted expenses.

Re: Online installment loans have taken the subprime market by storm

#48
post #35

Okay these loans certainly sound like a bad deal, but what are people supposed to do? Say your car breaks and you can’t get to work. For all of us here billing out >$100hr or whatever your local consulting rate is, the answer is some calculus around the cost of losing your job vs the cost of fixing it. But for MOST people, the cost of fixing it is functionally infinite. They literally do not have even a few hundred d…

Exactly, thank you!

Re: Online installment loans have taken the subprime market by storm

#50
post #35

Okay these loans certainly sound like a bad deal, but what are people supposed to do? Say your car breaks and you can’t get to work. For all of us here billing out >$100hr or whatever your local consulting rate is, the answer is some calculus around the cost of losing your job vs the cost of fixing it. But for MOST people, the cost of fixing it is functionally infinite. They literally do not have even a few hundred d…

You had me until:

> Yeah, they know the loan is bad. They probably don’t have any other options.

I think it’s a pretty poor assumption to assume all the people taking out these loans understand exactly what they’re getting into, and what other options they may have. I think there should be a mandatory 20 minute education session for anyone taking out a payday loan/installment loan.

Post reply on HN