Study results released yesterday by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation found that, although Americans as a whole are feeling less financial stress, making ends meet remains a daily struggle for millions — particularly women, millennials, African-Americans, Hispanics, and those lacking a high school education. Among the study’s most significant findings: More than one in five […]
Author Archives: Allison Zieve
California's Attorney General announced on Friday a settlement agreement with K12 Inc., a for-profit online charter school operator, and the 14 affiliated non-profit schools known as the California Virtual Academies (“CAVA Schools”) that it manages, over alleged violations of California’s false claims, false advertising and unfair competition laws. As part of the settlement, which is […]
The Wall Street Journal reports: Democrats Mark Warner of Virginia and Chuck Schumer of New York plan to send a letter to the Federal Trade Commission [today] asking the regulatory body to examine the persistent challenge of fraudulent ads in online advertising. For the past several years, as the buying and selling of digital advertising […]
The Wall Street Journal reports that More than at any time in their history, banks are being asked to work hand-in-hand with the U.S. government, serving as deputized watchmen for suspicious activity. That has been happening to some extent since legislation passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but banks’ responsibilities have steadily increased. […]
The Hill reports: The entire federal government is exempt from consumer protection laws that limit unwanted robocalls, the Federal Communications Commission decided in a ruling issued Tuesday night. While the Telephone Consumer Protection Act bars businesses from making numerous autodialed or prerecorded calls to a person’s cellphone—and similar telemarketing calls to a person’s home phone—the […]
The Washington Post has two articles today about payday loans. First, an opinion piece by Mike Calhoun, the director of the Center for Responsible Lending, is entitled "Think there’s no good alternative to payday loans? Think again." Mr. Calhoun begins: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed rule requiring payday and car title lenders to assess […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today released a monthly "complaint snapshot" highlighting complaints about consumer loans, including vehicle loans and leases, installment loans, title loans, and pawn loans. The report shows that consumers continue to complain about issues managing their loans and problems they encounter when they are unable to pay off the loans. The […]
Confirming the reports last week of a settlement of the VW emissions lawsuit, the parties today announced that VW will pay $14.7 billion to settle allegations of cheating emissions tests and deceiving customers. Volkswagen will offer consumers a buyback and lease termination for nearly 500,000 model year 2009-2015 2.0 liter diesel vehicles sold or leased […]
The Washington Post reports that Volkswagen has agreed to pay $10.2 billion to settle a lawsuit brought against it for cheating on U.S. emissions tests. The case stems from the carmaker’s 2015 admission that 11 million vehicles worldwide had cheating software designed to get around emissions tests. The settlement will compensate owners of 482,000 vehicles […]
NPR reports: Just a week before a Vermont law kicks in requiring labels on food containing genetically modified ingredients, U.S. Senate agriculture leaders announced a deal Thursday that takes the power out of states' hands — and sets a mandatory national system for GM disclosures on food products. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, the chairman of […]