Today, 14 state attorneys general submitted a comment to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in response to the FDIC's request for comment on small-dollar lending. The attorneys general urged the FDIC to ensure consumers are protected from high-interest predatory small dollar loans. The letter is here.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Politico reports that on the effects of the government shutdown on federal workers, some of whom are turning to installment loans, car title loans, and payday cash advances, which charge exorbitantly high interest. Others are making payments late, risking long-term damage to their credit scores. The article is here.
In a consent order with California's Department of Business Oversight, a payday lender called California Check Cashing Stores agreed to refund about $800,000 to consumers, to settle allegations that it steered borrowers into high-interest loans and engaged in other illegal practices. It also agreed to pay $105,000 in penalties and other costs. The settlement involves […]
The State of New York and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (which is not shut down) yesterday settled claims against Sterling Jewelers, based on findings that that the company violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 by opening store credit-card accounts without customer consent; enrolling customers in payment-protection insurance without their consent; and misrepresenting […]
by Jeff Sovern The media has devoted considerable attention to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's joining the House Financial Services Committee. I'm glad she is on the committee–the more members who are not beholden to banks, the better–and I suspect few realize how intelligent Ocasio-Cortez is (taking second place in the Intel competition is an impressive accomplishment). […]
The Yes Men perpetrated (or perhaps only collaborated on) a parody of the Washington Post today, distributing tens of thousands of hard copy editions date-lined May 1, 2019 (making the parody too obvious), but also transmitting email from “send85-proxymailing@washingtonpost.com” domain, which in turn links to a fairly extensive parody web site located at my-washingtonpost.com. A […]
The National Consumer Law Center has a list of federal and state consumer law changes scheduled to take effect in 2019, as well as several changes that were effective in November and December of 2018 that have special relevance in 2019. The list is here.
by Jeff Sovern So reports the NY Times. Excerpt: Vanderbilt University Medical Center, responding to a new Trump administration order to begin posting all hospital prices, listed a charge of $42,569 for a cardiology procedure described as “HC PTC CLOS PAT DUCT ART.” Baptist Health in Miami helpfully told consumers that an “Embolza Protect 5.5” […]
In a post yesterday, Public Citizen reported that the government shutdown is placing crucial consumer, health, and safety protections at serious risk. The agency most impacted in the Consumer Product Safety Commission, where only 20 members of the 550-person staff are at work during the shutdown (working, but not being paid). For information about the […]
The following Federal Trade Commission services are NOT available during the shutdown: National Do Not Call Registry (For consumers) National Do Not Call Registry (For telemarketers) Consumer Sentinel Network (For law enforcement) Complaint Assistant (For filing consumer complaints) Identitytheft.gov (For consumers reporting ID theft) Econsumer.gov (For consumers reporting international complaints) Public comments can be submitted, […]