[T]he lucrative lending practices of America’s merchants of debt have led millions of Americans — young and old, native and immigrant, affluent and poor — to the brink. More and more, Americans can identify with miners of old: in debt to the company store with little chance of paying up.

It is not just individuals but the entire economy that is now suffering. Practices that produced record profits for many banks have shaken the nation’s financial system to its foundation. As a growing number of Americans default, banks are recording hundreds of billions in losses, devastating their shareholders.

A must-read article in Sunday’s New York Times evokes Merle Travis’ “Sixteen Tons” to shine a light on the practices that credit-card issuers, mortgage banks, and other issuers have used in recent years to more than triple  the amount of debt carried by the average household (in today’s dollars) over the past 25 years, even as the national household savings rate has dwindled to nothing. I deal with these issues every day in my practice, and yet it still takes me by surprise sometimes to realize how successful the lending industry has been at tilting the playing field in their favor, even at the cost of the economy as a whole.

Gretchen Morgenson’s front-page article is part of a package of stories and interactive features called “The Debt Trap,” about which I hope to write more later.

File this one under “things you wouldn’t think you’d have to tell someone”: The Federal Reserve moved today to outlaw a number of shady practices among mortgage lenders. My personal favorite: “a restriction on the use of the word ‘fixed’ to describe the terms of a loan whose rate will change over time.” Other welcome new restrictions:

— Prohibit lenders from loaning to borrowers who cannot repay the loan from income and assets other than a home’s value.

— Require lenders to verify a borrower’s income and assets.

— Ban prepayment penalties for the first four years of any adjustable-rate subprime mortgage; other subprime mortgages could have no prepayment penalties for two years.

[...]

— Prohibit advertising in which different loans are compared unless all payments and rates are also disclosed.

— Prohibit foreign-language mortgage ads in which required disclosures are presented in English.

— Prohibit a lender from encouraging or coercing an appraiser to misrepresent a home’s assessed value. [!]

— Require lenders to credit borrowers’ payments on the day of receipt.

There are many more new regs that I can’t quote without running afoul of the fair-use standard, so go and read the whole thing.

This is big. Following the announcement of lawsuits against Countrywide Financial this morning by the states of California and Illinois, Governor Gregoire said the state is going to attempt to revoke Countrywide’s license to operate in the state of Washington after an investigation found that the company had engaged in predatory lending practices:

“The allegation that Countrywide preyed on minority borrowers is extremely troubling to me,” Gregoire said. “And I hope to learn eventually just how much this may have contributed to foreclosures in our state. The allegation offers evidence that Countrywide engaged in a pattern to target minority groups and engage in predatory practices.”

“That’s why we intend to bring the full weight of the state on Countrywide to rewrite home loans for minority borrowers who may have been misled into signing predatory mortgages,” the governor noted. “My job is to protect hard-working Washingtonians, and protect them we will.”

Countrywide is also being fined $1 million for discriminatory lending and will be required to pay $5 million in back assessments. You can read the charging document here . More on this as it develops.

Sad news today that legendary Seattle jazz musician Ernestine Anderson, 79, is facing foreclosure on the Central District home that she and her family have owned and lived in since 1946. The Associated Press reports that Anderson, who has largely retired from performing and lives on Social Security benefits of about $1,000 a month, has a loan on her home that asks for a payment of $5,000 every month. Counselors are trying to find out more about how Anderson got into the loan, but given the size of the monthly payment it certainly sounds predatory. (Elderly people with lots of home equity but low incomes are prime targets for predatory lenders and scammers.)

Anderson has to come up with $44,000 in back payments and taxes by Monday, June 30, or her home will be put up for auction. Donations can be made at any Bank of America branch.

An astute column today about the institutions that have helped push so many Americans into unmanageable debt, from what one might consider an unlikely source: conservative New York Times editorial columnist David Brooks.

The agents of destruction are many. State governments have played a role. They aggressively hawk their lottery products…

Payday lenders have also played a role. They seductively offer fast cash — at absurd interest rates — to 15 million people every month.

Credit card companies have played a role. Instead of targeting the financially astute, who pay off their debts, they’ve found that they can make money off the young and vulnerable…..

Congress and the White House have played a role. The nation’s leaders have always had an incentive to shove costs for current promises onto the backs of future generations. It’s only now become respectable to do so.

A timely reminder that issues involving the indebtedness and financial health of the American taxpayer cut across political boundaries. Consider reading the whole thing.