When credit cards attack (Belleville News-Democrat)
On Nov. 21, I opened a letter from Citibank announcing that my credit card interest rate will rise from 9.99 percent to a minimum of 16.99 percent. On Nov. 24, we taxpayers bailed out the struggling financial services giant, which, like all credit card issuers, is looking to reduce risk and return to profitability by raising rates and lowering credit limits for the U.S. consumers whom they ...

AP IMPACT: They warned us, but US eased loan rules (Washington Post)
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration backed off proposed crackdowns on no-money-down, interest-only mortgages years before the economy collapsed, buckling to pressure from some of the same banks that have now failed. It ignored remarkably prescient warnings that foretold the financial meltdown, according to an Associated Press review of regulatory documents.

General Growth Properties gets loan reprieve (AP via Yahoo! Finance)
Shopping-mall owner General Growth Properties Inc. is getting a two-week extension on $900 million in debt that had been scheduled to come due last week as the company works to stave off bankruptcy and negotiate longer-term extensions with lenders.

Student debt levels portend rising loan default rates (The Indianapolis Star)
Not long ago, Dan Brown and his roommate headed from San Francisco to Las Vegas. They were aiming to win big so they could pay off their student loans.

'Excellent credit to bankruptcy' in two years (The Springfield News-Leader)
Hoping to earn $50,000 in three years to help pay for their son's college education, an Iowa couple joined what was described as a risk-free housing investment program run by a Springfield company -- only to find their lives in financial ruins two years later.