NYT-
ONLINE lenders who charge borrowers stratospheric interest rates are coming under pressure from state regulators — and it’s about time. But to get at the root of the problem, the regulators may need to dig much deeper.
Last month, for example, the New York attorney general followed other states’ regulators in suing Western Sky Financial and its affiliate Cash Call Inc. The lawsuit contended that rates charged to borrowers by the companies — from 89 to 343 percent, depending on loan size — far exceed the caps determined by the state’s civil and criminal usury laws. A borrower receiving $1,000 could wind up owing almost $5,000 in finance charges, fees and principal over two years, the complaint said.