1.   Activists tried to block the Associates acquisition by complaining to regulators that the company was a predatory lender.

2.   Advocacy groups and past surveys have long pointed to the poor, elderly, and minorities as main targets for predatory lenders.

3.   But critics called Delta a predatory lender that focused on minority neighborhoods.

4.   Chicago and Washington have already enacted laws against predatory lenders.

5.   Chicago passed an ordinance last year forbidding the city to do business with predatory lenders.

6.   Efforts in the legislature to limit predatory lenders have run into opposition from major banks, which are moving into the subprime market.

7.   Georgia is expected to serve as a key battleground again this year between the subprime mortgage industry and consumer advocates who want to restrain so-called predatory lenders.

8.   If so, how does one evade the clutches of predatory lenders?

9.   In Chicago, the City Council passed an ordinance last year forbidding the city from doing business with predatory lenders.

10.   In a world of second mortgage scams and predatory lenders, Marks said, the advice is invaluable.