Author Archives: Brian Wolfman

Google pays $19 million to settle claims that it deceived kids into buying Android apps

Yesterday, Google agreed with the Federal Trade Commission to pay $19 million to consumers whose children allegedly were misled into making purchases in the Android "app store." As this article by Cecilia Kang explains: Google made it too easy for children to use Android phones to buy items ranging from 99 cents to $200 in […]

Pounding Student Loan Borrowers: The Heavy Costs of the Government’s Partnership with Debt Collection Agencies

That's the name of this new report by the National Consumer Law Center. Here's the Center's overview: The U.S. Department of Education refers every eligible defaulted student loan debt to private debt collection agencies. Collectors are hired not only to collect money, but also to communicate with borrowers about options to resolve their debt, creating […]

CFPB warns credit-card companies over deceptive interest-rate promotions

Yesterday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned credit-card companies through this Bulletin not to attract new customers with deceptive interest-rate deals that are too good to be true. Here's how CFPB head Richard Cordray put it: Credit card offers that lure in consumers and then hit them with surprise charges are against the law. Before […]

“Good news for Obamacare: Health coverage is soaring, but health care prices aren’t”

That's the name of this article from Vox, which is worth a read. Here's an excerpt: Health care prices have grown really slowly this summer, a piece of good economic news released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Tuesday. The price of medical care commodities, which includes drugs and other medical  devices, grew 0.3 percent from […]

Is there a better (even decent) alternative to the payday loan?

There's no question that, for some low-wage workers, it can be finanically difficult or impossible to wait for pay day. So even if pay day loans are a bad thing for consumers, the demand for them is created by a very real problem. So, in Is ActiveHours A True Payday Alternative Or Just Another Too-Good-To-Be-True […]