A Reexamination of the Problem of State Usury Ceilings PDF Download

Author: James E. McNulty
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Interest
Languages : en
Pages : 78

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Book Description
This paper reviews the research on the impact of state usury ceilings. Existing econometric studies (with some exceptions) rely primarily on cross-sectional analysis, and in addition they appear to suggest that usury ceilings are restrictive only when the ceiling is below average market rates. However, other evidence of a fairly wide distribution of rates within urban mortgage markets suggests that, as interest rates are rising, a given ceiling would begin to be restrictive even before the average rate prevailing in the market reaches the ceiling rate. This hypothesis was upheld in tests using data for savings and loan associations in Georgia. Because there were approximately 17 states with 10 percent usury ceilings in mid-1978, when average market rates were in the 9 1/2% - 9 3/4% range, the restrictiveness of usury ceilings may be significantly greater than is generally considered to be the case. Furthermore, the evidence developed here suggests that the movement toward floating usury ceilings in many states in recent years may not be a welcome development, since such ceilings would tend to discourage higher risk loans, even when the general availability of mortgage credit is good.