The former North Carolina senator and Democratic presidential candidate finds himself an unlikely victim of cutthroat lending practices
Pressed for comment, Edwards declared, “It’s unconscionable that a loan would be offered on such terms. I can assure you I was unaware these kinds of practices were going on. I played absolutely no part in the decision-making on the loan.”
These events underscore the need for closer government supervision of lenders by illustrating that rich and poor alike are vulnerable to unscrupulous subprime lenders, said the candidate’s wife, Elizabeth: “If the heartless, cold-blooded people behind this loan were properly regulated by the government, John and I would have been spared a lot of distress.”
Many are perplexed at how millionaire lawyer Edwards would be forced to borrow on such predatory terms. According to Minnie Richards from the Southern Poverty Credit Counseling Center, “The Edwards’ credit report still reflects their days of missed payments back before John made it big. Money was tight; the Edwards were living in a one-bedroom apartment. They relied on maxed-out Capital One accounts just to make ends meet, charging everything from the water bill to pricey haircuts to carbon offsets.”
Upon revelation of the loan, Edwards promised the campaign would quickly divest itself of the debt. It will be sold as soon as possible on the open market, to a hefty profit for the Edwards campaign, said a spokesperson.
But this is not the first time Edwards has been critiqued for his involvement in the lucrative subprime lending market. Last spring news broke that Edwards had invested in and provided consulting services for Fortress Investment Group, a corporation that works to deprive Hurricane Katrina victims of their homes. “A lot of people were saying, ‘How could John really not know about what was going on there?’” said the spokesperson, “But this weeks events just go to show you that sometimes the truth really is stranger than fiction.”
