John Oliver Takes on the Predatory World of Subprime Car Loans

“If the phrase a ‘boom in subprime loans’ is making your eye twitch with flashbacks to the mortgage crisis, just wait—we’ll get there.”

On Sunday, John Oliver took on the shady world of subprime auto lenders, an industry that too often tricks vulnerable people into paying far more for a used car than it’s actually worth. As the Last Week Tonight host explained, predatory loans are just “one of the many ways that when you are poor, everything can be more expensive,” with lenders’ practices driving borrowers into inescapable debt and bankruptcy.

It’s also an industry, unburdened by alarmingly lax rules, that closely resembles the 2008 financial crisis. For more on subprime car loans, head over to our recent in-depth coverage here.