ConsumerFinance.gov, the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new website, is live and in full effect. So is their Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube. They want your suggestions and ideas so send ‘em in! As they announced on their website their central role is “to make markets for consumer financial products and services work for America…The CFPB belongs to the people it serves. If you have suggestions, we want to hear them.” [More]
Chase Sends You New Credit Card, Then Cancels It Before It Arrives
By February 2, 2011
Reader Danny writes in that he was approved for a new Chase Ink credit card, but by the time it showed up in his mailbox, it was already canceled. [More]
Wachovia Settles "Pick-a-Payment" Mortgage Loan Class Action
By February 1, 2011
If you got a “Pick-a-Payment” mortgage from Wachovia between Aug 1 2003 and Dec 31 2008, you might be up for claiming some cash in a $50 million settlement. [More]
Skimmer Uses Bank Door Swipe, Crooks Don't Even Touch ATM
By January 31, 2011
In a twist to the usual ATM skimmer scam, there’s a new report from Krebs on Security about crooks who put the skimmer inside the bank door-lock. When you swipe your card to get inside, they grab your digits. A camera hidden behind a mirror above the ATM and pointed down at the keypad records your PIN code when you punch it in. [More]
Assange Tells 60 Minutes He Likes Watching Banks Squirm As They Prep For His Next Leak
By January 31, 2011
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange played coy in his 60 Minutes interview last night as reporter Steve Kroft tried to press him about the identity of the big bank he supposedly has a 5GB hard drive of secrets on. [More]
Chase Chokes Off Enrollment In Debit Rewards
By January 28, 2011
After February 8th, Chase isn’t letting any more people into the debit rewards program. Citing shrinking margins due to recent legislation, Chase is closing off all new enrollment. [More]
The 8 Least Evil Banks In America
By January 27, 2011
Banks that aren’t evil? Really? CNN Money rounded up eight American banks that might not be consumer paradises, but offer free checking, no ATM fees, and comparatively high interest rates for savings accounts. [More]
Chase Overcharged Over 4,000 Military Families On Mortgages, Improperly Foreclosed On 14
By January 19, 2011
Chase has admitted that it overcharged over 4,000 military families on their home mortgages, as well as wrongly foreclosed on 14 of them. Some of these are families of troops that are fighting in Afghanistan. [More]
Citigroup Still Selling Mortgages That Violate Quality Standards
By January 18, 2011
15% of the mortgages Citigroup sold to government-owned Freddie Mac from the second half of 2009 and the first part of 2010 were riddled with flaws, according to an internal report obtained by Bloomberg. The error rate should be about 5%. The mistakes included missing insurance docs, missing appraisals and income miscalculations. [More]
Now Banks Are Also Walking Away From Foreclosures, Just Leaving Them To Rot
By January 14, 2011
It’s not just underwater homeowners just flat out walking away from their houses. Now some mortgage servicers, having decided certain properties would be too expensive to try to foreclose, secure, maintain and market, are just abandoning the properties entirely, to let nature, and whatever else, take its course. [More]
Apocryphal And Hilarious "Letter A 98-Year Old Woman Wrote To Her Bank" Makes The Rounds Again
By January 10, 2011
An amazing letter that a 98-year old woman wrote to her bank to protest a bounced check is making the rounds. She complains about a check getting bounced from her account because it occurred “three nanoseconds” before her pension got direct-deposited. She then says that going forward the bank will have to appoint a special rep to open her mortgage and loan payments, he has to use a 28-digit PIN to talk to her, and will have to go through a lengthy phone tree. It’s quite clever, but it’s not real. Not exactly. [More]
What You Get If You Start Saving Today
By January 7, 2011
A lot of people probably made “save more money” one of their New Year’s Resolutions. It’s true, the best day to start saving is right now. Based off of what the average American spends annually, if you set a goal for next January and save $157 a month, you can have all your clothes paid for for the year. [More]
Chase Closes Couple's Bank Account Because They Deposited Checks Written With Red Ink
By January 7, 2011
A California couple lost their Chase checking account because the bank’s system couldn’t read the red ink on a pair of $100 checks from one of their grandmothers. [More]
BofA Tests New Checking Accounts With New Fees
By January 6, 2011
Bank of America is trying out a new system of checking accounts with new rules—and new fees for breaking them. [More]
SmartyPig Cuts Rate From 1.75% To 1.35% APY
By January 6, 2011
In an email to customers, savings site SmartyPig announced it had cut its rate from 1.75% to 1.35% APY. Now it’s no longer the top rate for a nationally available online savings account. Sad day. [More]
More New Debit Card Fees Loom
By January 5, 2011
Banks are making less money when you swipe your credit and debit cards because of new caps on interchange rates, the fee that they charge to process each of these transactions, that go into effect on July 1st. They have to make the money up somehow! We’ve seen new fee-incurring tripwires on checking accounts, and now they’re dreaming up even more fees for debit cards. Here’s what’s on their wishlist: [More]
What's My State's Statute Of Limitations On Debts?
By January 3, 2011
One of the first thing you’ll want to check when you get a debt collection notice is the expiration date. No, it won’t be written on the top like a milk carton. But you can check to see when the debt is from. If it’s longer than your state’s statue of limitations on debt collections, they’re unlikely to successfully sue you. Those dates vary by state, so here’s a handy list that gets routinely updated. [More]
Dead Woman Used To Collect Thousands Of Debts
By January 3, 2011
Martha Kunkle has been dead since 1995, but that hasn’t stopped her from trying to collect on thousands of debts. Despite being six feet under, her signature continued to be signed on thousands of affidavits filed by Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRA) in lawsuits against borrowers, lawsuits that are ripe for contesting because the documents they’re based on are fraudulent. [More]
