 refund anticipation loans rals  rals are highcost loans on tax refunds targeted at lowincome families refund anticipation loans drain the assets of those least able to afford high fees what s more most rals go hand in hand with the earned income tax credit the eitc is an excellent program but rals thwart its inspired and wellimplemented mission to reward work and support lowincome households  fast cash less filling refund anticipation loans in north carolina march 24 2009  this report documents the impact of rals in north carolina we show the most affected zip codes in the state the communities with the highest rates of ral usage both in terms of all residents and lowincome households as well as the impact of the eitc our paper includes a set of easily actionable policy ideas that would alter the scourge of rals in our state read the full report here  read the executive summary here   more cranc research on rals  mystery shopper test exposes refund anticipation loan abuses in durham and philadelphia 2006 ral report 2009 ral report 2010 ral report cranc comment letter ral usage prevalent in low income zones map  refund anticipation loan offices in north carolina map  ral usage often highest in minority zip codes map    latest news on rals jp morgan chase exited the refund anticipation loan ral business this springchase supplied refund anticipation loans to approximately 13000 independent tax prep firms junk fees where the tax preparer adds their own additional charges on to the price of the ral itself mean that those consumers pay a high price to file their taxes chase partners included mo money taxes cranc s advocacy ultimately led the north carolina attorney general to force mo money to withdraw their refund anticipation loan license the occ asked pacific capital to cease its funding for refund loans in january 2010 the eitc often sapped by rals can be an effective means for savings cranc supports the split refund  a new rule by the irs that allows filers to allocate portions of their refund to different accounts deceptive marketing  would you get medical advice from a baseball player no  don t let a basketball player tell you where to get your taxes done especially if that player is more worried about tax treatment on his hedge fund investing  tarp funding for rals  msnbc calls out pacific capital bancorp pcbc   having found that tarp funds will provide liquidity for its refund anticipation loans rals    our partners in the fight  national consumer law center nc justice and community development center americans for fairness in lending california reinvestment coalition the ida and asset building collaborative of north carolina   eitc carolinas nc naacp north carolina department of labor the city of durham the county of durham defaultcranclogopng  advocacyresearch  