The article is on Yahoo!Finance, here.
Author Archives: Allison Zieve
I just came across FDIC Consumer News — “the FDIC’s monthly newsletter to consumers, providing practical guidance on how to become a smarter, safer user of financial services, including helpful hints, quick tips, and common-sense strategies to protect and stretch your hard-earned dollars.” Recent articles include: Older Adults Helping Relatives Through Financial Support; Shopping for […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday proposed a rule to block banks and other financial institutions from charging non-sufficient funds fees on transactions declined at the time the consumer swipes, taps, or clicks — that is, transactions that the financial institution declines in real time. These types of transactions include declined debit card purchases and […]
At Reuters, reporter Alison Frankel has this story on a recent class-action settlement with Verizon. Verizon (as is typical of cellphone companies) requires customers to agree to arbitrate any disputes that may arise. The settlement avoids appellate review of Verizon’s effort to limit arbitrations to batches of 10 at a time, which, in situations where […]
The Federal Trade Commission today issued its biennial report to Congress on the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry. According to the report, more than 249 million consumers have placed their telephone numbers on the Registry over the past two year. The report also notes that the FTC has received more than two million Do […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has published a report on student-loan servicing practices since the resumption of federal student loan repayments in the fall, after a three-year payment pause in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CFPB report finds that borrowers are “encountering long hold times when trying to reach their student loan servicer, experiencing […]
Dr. Sidney Wolfe, the founder of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group and a unique figure in advancing public health, died yesterday. Since founding the Health Research Group in 1971 as part of Ralph Nader’s new nonprofit Public Citizen, Sid applied research-based advocacy to get dangerous drugs and devices off the market, win new protections for […]
The Federal Trade Commission has finalized a new rule to fight two common types of illegal tactics consumers face when buying a car: bait-and-switch tactics and hidden junk fees. The FTC expects the rule to save consumers nationwide more than $3.4 billion and an estimated 72 million hours each year shopping for vehicles. The FTC’s […]
The Center for Justice & Democracy has published a report titled “Kicked Out of Court in 2023 – 50 Cases Showing the Real-World Impact of Forced Arbitration.” The introduction explains: Mistreatment by tech giants like TikTok. Automobiles and appliances sold with dangerous defects. Nude photos posted online by medical offices. Farms and crops ruined due […]
This week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered Bank of America to pay a $12 million penalty for submitting false mortgage lending information to the federal government under a long-standing federal law. For at least four years, hundreds of Bank of America loan officers failed to ask mortgage applicants certain demographic questions as required under […]