The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today put out a report about problems with student loan servicing in the military. Among the problems identified: • Military deferments are denied without adequate explanation, applied in a haphazard way, and, in some cases, are approved verbally but never applied to military borrowers’ accounts, resulting in late fees, defaults […]
Author Archives: Allison Zieve
The Hill reports: A liberal group that advocates for racial and economic reform is using Shark Week on the Discovery Channel to call attention to predatory payday lending practices. National People’s Action (NPA) is comparing marine sharks to payday loan sharks who they say trap 12 million Americans in a devastating cycle of debt annually. […]
By guest blogger Jessica Ranucci In comments filed last week, banking industry groups opposed proposed Department of Education regulations that would crack down on “college card agreements” between universities and banks that affect students who receive Title IV federal education funds. Twenty-five billion dollars in federal Pell Grant and Direct Loan funds is dispersed annually […]
July 1, 2015 – Virginia Resident Sentenced to Prison in Connection with Lottery Scheme Based in Jamaica June 26, 2015 – Former OtisMed CEO Sentenced for Selling Unapproved Surgical Devices June 26, 2015 – First Jamaican Man Extradited to United States in Connection with International Lottery Scheme Sentenced to Prison June 22, 2015 – California […]
The Hill reports: In a push to produce a more transparent regulatory process, federal agencies will review their standards for genetically engineered food, plants and animals, the White House announced on Thursday. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will update their “Coordinated Framework,” the regulatory […]
By guest blogger Jessica Ranucci The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed complaints last week against two companies that charge consumers for credit card add-ons — such as “credit monitoring” and “identify theft protection” — that the consumers never receive. The two companies, Affinion and Intersections, partnered with banks to sell add-on services. Fees were charged […]
By guest blogger Jessica Ranucci New York state officials announced today that a student loan debt relief provider is shutting down operations after an investigation by the state’s Student Protection Unit. The company, Inveractiv Edcuation, advertised that it could lower students’ monthly loan payments and charged borrowers upfront fees of up to $3,400 for its […]
The Food and Drug Administration has issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking "seeking comments, data, research, and/or other information related to nicotine exposure warnings and child-resistant packaging for liquid nicotine, nicotine-containing e-liquid(s), and potentially for other tobacco products including, but not limited to novel tobacco products such as dissolvables, lotions, gels, and drinks." The […]
The LA Times reports: A federal appeals court Tuesday let stand a 2013 lower court ruling that concluded Apple conspired with several top book publishers to raise e-book prices. The Justice Department had accused Apple of unfairly taking control of a nascent market that had been dominated by Amazon.com. …. [The court] wrote that Apple […]
The Federal Trade Commission announced today: The Federal Trade Commission is mailing almost 95,000 checks totaling approximately $4 million to consumers who lost money to a debt collection operation that extorted payments from them using false threats. In May 2014, the FTC settled charges against Asset Capital and Management Group, which, under various names, illegally […]