ABSTRACT
Bernae Gunderson, a paralegal specialist from St. Paul, had no difficulty deciphering the fine print of legal documents. Still, she found herself puzzled by materials she received from her mortgage company. They didn’t jibe with the home equity loan she and her husband had been promised. Mrs. Gunderson called the company, First Alliance Corporation, asked questions about monthly payments and fees, and was promptly reassured that her understanding of the loan was indeed correct. What Mrs. Gunderson was not told-but soon would discover-was that First Alliance had tacked on $13,000 in fees to the loan, and the interest rate rose a full percentage point every 6 months (Henriques & Bergman, 2000).
