"Even I wouldn’t make a loan to me.” That kind of admission from a borrower ought to be a tip-off that banks shouldn’t be showering him or her with car financing and credit card offers, but lenders hungry to raise revenue are turning again to the business practices many contend turned “too big to fail” and “bailout” into household terms.
The number of subprime borrowers — people with credit scores of 660 or lower — issued new credit cards shot up by roughly 12% over the past year, the New York Times reports, citing data from credit bureau Equifax. The article tells the stories of people who have gone through bankruptcy, had cars repossessed and even were sued by debt collectors — who are getting a slew of direct-mail offers for credit.
Other companies that track the lending industry report similar findings: Credit bureau Experian said the number of subprime auto loans has climbed by six percentage points since the end of the recession and now makes up nearly a quarter of new auto loans.
