The Federal Reserve is set to take unprecedented measures to protect consumers from the credit card industry’s worst practices, such as interest rate hikes on existing balances. The final rule, expected to pass today, is the culmination of over two years of debate on how to best protect consumers from the arbitrary interest rate hikes and high fees that have come to characterize the $970 billion industry.

The Office of Thrift Supervision, in response to numerous comments from Chicago region community organizations, has agreed to hold a public hearing regarding a charter change for Republic Bancorp–a provider of high-cost refund anticipation loans.

To help combat the growing lending crisis and the rise of foreclosures in Chicago, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is investing $68 million in grants and low-interest loans in foreclosure prevention and mitigation efforts in local neighborhoods.

In recent months numerous critics have unfairly blamed the current financial crisis on efforts to increase lower-income homeownership. 

While the current Treasury plan may “unclog” the capital markets and allow for increased access to lending for large firms, it fails to address one the fundamental problems in today’s economy:  troubled homeowners.

Foreclosure is a local problem. To help solve it, Woodstock Institute provides the facts on the ground, the analysis to identify the problem, and the technical assistance to help measure local successes. Its newest resource, a quarterly update on foreclosure patterns in the Chicago region, provides timely foreclosure data directly to the people who need it - community reinvestment stakeholders working to prevent foreclosures before they happen and reduce the community impact when they do.

As a major tax refund lender seeks to change charters, the Office of Thrift Supervision needs to hold a hearing to give the public a chance to tell its side of the story about high cost refund anticipation lending.