Bank of America has announced that, in February, it will cut the fees it charges customers for overdrawing their checking accounts and, starting in May, will eliminate non-sufficient funds fees. CNN reports that other banks, such as Capitol One and Ally, have also cut fees. The federal government has been encouraging banks to waive these […]
Michelle Aronowitz and Vanessa Gail Perry of George Washington have written Homeward Bound: Removing Barriers to Mortgage Credit for Black Homebuyers. Here’s the abstract: We analyze some of the key barriers to Black homeownership and propose several solutions that promise to expand homeownership opportunities, lower the costs of homeownership, and hasten equity accumulation for Black […]
by Jeff Sovern Story here. The joke is courtesy of my brother-in-law, Ray Conley.
In December, the Supreme Court granted the petition in Viking River Cruises v. Moriana, which poses the question whether the Federal Arbitration Act requires state courts to enforce a waiver of a statutory right of action to collect penalties on behalf of a state, in violation of neutral principles of state law prohibiting such a […]
The Federal Trade Commission today issued its biennial report to Congress on the National Do Not Call Registry. The report notes that more than 244 million consumers have placed their telephone numbers on the Registry. As reported in the FTC's November 2021 National Do Not Call Registry Data Book, the agency received more than five […]
This Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today issued a report on the effect of changes in complaint responses provided by nationwide consumer reporting companies. The CFPB found that the changes resulted in fewer meaningful responses and less consumer relief: In 2021, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion together reported relief in response to less than 2% of covered […]
The National Consumer Law Center has published, here, a list of federal and state consumer law rights scheduled to go into effect or to expire during the period from November 30, 2021, through the end of 2022. Topics include laws related to debt collection, bankruptcy, student loans, and medical debt.
On New Year's Eve, New York's Governor Hochul signed the Fair Consumer Judgment Interest Act, which caps interest rates on money judgments arising out of consumer debt, including medical and student debt, at two percent. The law, which will take effect in four months, will apply to all money judgments arising from consumer debt, including […]
Consumer Reports has this guide to retailers with the best and worst return policies.
The Federal Trade Commission has launched a "rulemaking aimed at combatting government and business impersonation fraud, a pernicious and prevalent problem that has grown worse during the pandemic. Impersonators use all methods of communication to trick their targets into trusting that they are the government or an established business and then trade on this trust […]