Household HSBC Watch

AK in Oregon sent this op-ed piece. We are publishing it here instead of in our complaints blog:
“HSBC- predatory lenders who slam insurance, offer over market rates and fees, and treat employees with disrespect.

When I started working at HFC I was just out of college. I was excited to have a job […]

On one hand HSBC spokesman Michael Trevino said tax refund loans “represents a very small portion’’ of HSBC’s revenue. On the other hand such loans represent bad publicity for HSBC, with interest rates sometimes over 100 percent. Lawsuits such as Carnegie vs Household, paid by HSBC in 2007, cast HSBC in a bad […]

Combined third-quarter profits for HSBC USA and HSBC Finance Corp. fell 15.5 percent, as a tight profit margin, lower banking fees, higher operating expenses and higher loan losses offset growth in the company’s bank branch network, commercial lending, retail mortgage and credit card divisions.
The two U.S. units of HSBC Holdings Plc reported total profit before […]

Most sued and former executive of HSBC and CEO of predatory lender Household International William F. Aldinger III once boasted that his company ‘invented tax refund loans’ - and they are proud of it. Household, and later HSBC, partnered with H&R Block. H&R Block CEO Mark Ernst appeared eager to turn the […]

Who would pay an annualized rate of 178 percent on a 10-day loan they are essentially making to themselves?

Apparently over 12 million taxpayers would, according to the National Consumer Law Center. That is how many taxpayers took out a refund anticipation loan, or RALs, in 2004. Though these loans are more often referred to as […]

August 3, 2005 - According to MortgageDaily.com, Ameriquest’s parent company, ACC Capital Holdings Corp., is the nation’s largest subprime lender, based on $82.7 billion in mortgage volume in 2004, including $3 billion in Massachusetts. Subprime loans are for people with credit scores too low for them to qualify for a traditional mortgage.

The litigation parallels charges […]

In another blow to HSBC’s reputation thanks in part to Household International, just this week, HSBC came under fire by more than 100 national and New York-based consumer organizations and community groups calling for state restrictions on “tax refund anticipation loans” and the high amounts of interest and administrative fees charged for them. According to […]

Tax preparer H&R Block Inc. reported a 14 percent drop in third-quarter earnings Thursday, but beat expectations as an increase in early tax clients provided the company with record third-quarter revenue. For its fiscal third quarter ending Jan. 31, the Kansas City-based company reported earnings of $91.7 million, or 55 cents per share, compared with […]

Shoppers may have noticed tax preparation kiosks in Walmart stores. You will see them again soon as Walmart and H&R Block have joined forces to increase profitability. H&R Block’s RAC’s and RAL’s, the popular but costly refund anticipation loans, are backed by predatory lender Household International. Household, now a wholly owned subsidiary of […]