Object to Unfair Lending

I have been a landlord with 14 apartment units in Lebanon since the 1980s. I have always strived to provide safe and well-maintained units at reasonable rates.

Not too long ago, I received a letter from the Title Cash store on Main Street in West Lebanon. I was solicited to send tenants of mine who might experience trouble paying their rent to their office to apply for a loan. For each referral, the office would pay me $50.

What the letter did not explain is the interest rate of 300 percent APR that gets applied to the loan. Also not mentioned was the fact that the store would take the borrower’s car title as collateral. In case the borrower cannot pay back the loan, his or her car would get repossessed. I have seen many repossessed cars on the parking lot of the Title Cash store in West Lebanon.

I consider this an outrage, and an attempt to make me complicit in preying on the vulnerable in our community. Unfortunately, this kind of predatory lending is common throughout New Hampshire and the U.S. In June, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau came out with rules to reign in usury practices. Although this is a step in the right direction, there are many loopholes that need to be closed to be really effective.

The CFPB has an open comment period for 90 days. If you have been directly affected by one of these high-interest loans, consider these loans amoral, or want to comment on the loopholes in the new rules, please go to faithforfairlending.org/UVIP.

Gisela Jones

Lebanon

Take It From Trump’s Ghostwriter

The article in this week’s New Yorker by Jane Meyer about Trump’s ghostwriter Tony Swartz, who spent 18 months with Trump to ghost-write his famous book The Art of the Deal, reveals Trump’s personality and character. Swartz characterized Trump as “pathologically impulsive and self-centered.”

He also concluded that “if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes, there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization.” Those who intend to vote for Trump should read this article.

Sikhar N. Banerjee

New London

Just As I Said

A few weeks ago I wrote a letter to the Valley News that alleged, in essence, that Mr. Trump was a BS artist. I received some supportive calls from readers, and one very unpleasant call from a Trump supporter.

Anyone who has taken Latin (you know, that dead language whose pithy little indicators we keep using, such as “e.g.” and “i.e.” and “sine qua non” and dozens of others) may know what QED means. It stands for “quod erat demonstrandum” — i.e., “that which was to be shown” — or roughly, “just as I said.”

I commend to readers David Barstow’s article in the July 16 New York Times. It’s titled “Donald Trump’s Deals Rely on Being Creative With the Truth.” If anything, Barstow is being generous. Trump is a world-class liar. Just what we want in a president, right?

QED.

A.E. Norton

Woodstock

Rep. Baldasaro Should Apologize

A message for New Hampshire state Rep. Al Baldasaro, of Londonderry:

Your comment about advocating violence against Hillary Clinton is not only harmful to the democratic process, it is an embarrassment to the state of New Hampshire and the state House of Representatives. I’m not a supporter of Clinton, but to make such heinous statements about having her shot by a firing squad gives an example that our government is no better than that of corrupt third-world and Communist countries around the globe. I would hope you retract your statement and provide an apology for not engaging the gray matter between your ears prior to speaking your opinions.

Having served as a town selectmen for 18 years, I learned that political office holders need to hold themselves to high ethical, moral and respectability standards. If one needs to register ideas or opinions, they should do so with assertiveness, thought and propriety. After all, we are in the public eye. I expect state, federal or local representatives to conduct themselves with the utmost responsibility and behavior.

Albert J. Franz

Dorchester

A Right Has Been Well Established

In light of recent political events, I would just like to remind everyone that the right and freedom to be stupid has already been bestowed upon us. So please stop fighting for it.

Brian C. Cain

Sharon

Return of the Mountain Lions

The July 21 article “Could Mountain Lions Save Human Lives?” was very interesting, as it pointed out how a reduction in deer population would reduce auto collisions. It cited substantial reductions in collisions with deer in states such as South Dakota, where the mountain lion has been returning to its old range. It is known that large predators such as mountain lions, wolves and coyotes keep a healthier balance in nature, and now this is being evaluated in terms of auto safety!

Our enemies today, at least in nature, are no longer the large carnivores. Instead, it is a tiny carnivore, the “deer” tick, which carries Lyme Disease and other sicknesses. These ticks depend primarily on rodents, along with deer. When the numbers of rodents and deer are high, as they are now — with an absence of predation — the numbers of ticks boom. All that can control the tick population are animals that eat their hosts, and these so far are coyotes and foxes, which are few. Now we have the chance to accept a new predator on the scene, the king of the hill, the mountain lion. I hope that we will tolerate this predator in our midst for the sake of the balance of nature, and recognize that we are not on its menu. Ungulates are the chosen food of mountain lions, just as rodents are the main food for coyotes and foxes. We have too many of these prey species and the insects that thrive upon them.

Cecelia Blair

Windsor

Where Should Sympathies Lie?

Should we sympathize with police when a therapist, while calming his patient who was lying on the street, was shot and wounded by police Monday in North Miami, Fla.?

The African-American therapist held his hands in the air and repeatedly said no one was armed. Clearly, the therapist was mistaken.

Kevin Leveret

White River Junction