Despite laws protecting servicemembers from some forms of shady lending, many continue to fall victim to too-good-to-be-true schemes. One company that offered questionable financing to military borrowers and private citizens has been ordered today to provide millions of dollars in debt relief to the consumers it deceived. [More]
Government Policy
Order Provides $92M In Debt Relief For Servicemembers And Others Deceived By Lending Scheme
By 7.29.14
FTC Gives Wireless Industry Suggestions On How To Not Be Bill-Cramming Jerks
By 7.29.14
Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission sued T-Mobile, accusing the wireless company of making hundred of millions of dollars off of so-called “premium” text-messaging subscriptions that were often never requested by subscribers. To preempt others from getting involved in illegal “bill cramming,” the FTC is asking carriers to implement policy changes now instead of waiting until it’s too late. [More]
Now You Can Tell The FCC What You Think About Bans On Municipal Broadband
By 7.29.14
Last week, a pair of city-operated utility companies petitioned the FCC, daring Commission Chair Tom Wheeler to make good on his promises to overturn ridiculous, industry-backed state laws that ban or severely limit municipal broadband. The FCC has opened the issue up for public comment, so it’s time to make your opinion heard. [More]
Nissan Expands Recall For Vehicles With Possibly Defective Takata Airbags
By 7.28.14
In a year marred by vehicle recalls, Nissan remained relatively under the radar with fewer than 500,000 cars recalled. But that changed on Saturday when the car company expanded a previous recall over defective Takata-produced airbags, bringing its total to more than 664,000. [More]
Former GM CEO Thinks Congress Would Have Gone Easier On Him Over Ignition Recalls
By 7.28.14
In the short time that she’s been CEO of General Motors, Mary Barra has repeatedly been called before federal lawmakers and investigators to answer for the car company’s record-shattering recalls, including the ignition-related problems that went ignored for more than a decade. But her predecessor at the GM CEO gig says he probably wouldn’t have received such tough interrogations from Congress. [More]
CPSC: Best Buy And Its Closeout Stores Sold Electronics And Furniture After Recall
By 7.25.14
Once an item has been formally recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, it becomes illegal to sell that item. Yet the CPSC reports that Best Buy, Magnolia, Best Buy Private Auction, CowBoom, and TechLiquidators continued to sell products that had already been recalled in 2012 and 2013. [More]
FCC Chair Now Has Two Chances To Overturn Bans On Municipal Broadband
By 7.25.14
Thanks to deep-pocketed telecom lobbyists, 20 states in the U.S. have laws that either ban or heavily restrict local governments from creating or investing in public broadband networks, and more states are trying to jump on that ban-wagon. For months, FCC Chair Tom Wheeler has been saying that his agency could use its authority to preempt these anticonsumer laws and give municipalities the ability to invest in Internet infrastructure if they want. Now it’s time for Wheeler to put up or shut up, as the FCC ponders petitions from groups in two states. [More]
Regulators Investigating Hyundai Because Seatbelts And Airbags Are Supposed To Work
By 7.25.14
Since there’s no point in having seatbelts or airbags in a car if they don’t function when needed, the National Highway Traffic Administration is looking into an issue that could knock out these safety features in some Hyundai vehicles. [More]
GM Expects To Pay Upwards Of $600 Million To Victims Of Ignition Switch Defect
By 7.24.14
Last month General Motors detailed its plan to compensate victims of crashes resulting from the long-ignored ignition defect, saying individual payouts could range anywhere from around $20,000 to the double-digit millions. Today, the car maker revealed how much it expects to pay in total when all this compensating is done. [More]
Appeals Court Allows Farmers To Keep Feeding Unnecessary Antibiotics To Animals
By 7.24.14
More than 35 years ago, the FDA acknowledged that feeding medically unnecessary antibiotics to farm animals may encourage the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which poses a huge health risk to humans. In 2012, a federal court ruled that the FDA is required by law to hold hearings in which the drug makers would need to prove the safety of non-medical use of these antibiotics. But today, a the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the lower court’s ruling, saying it’s up to the FDA to decide if it wants to hold such hearings. [More]
Feds File 9 Lawsuits Against Alleged Mortgage Relief Scammers That Took Millions From Consumers
By 7.23.14
If the thought of losing one’s home wasn’t bad enough, finding out that you’ve been ripped off by the companies promising to help must be even worse. Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, along with the Federal Trade Commission and 15 states announced a string of lawsuits and other actions against such deceptive companies. [More]
GM Recalls Another 718,000 Vehicles, Including Your Bitchin’ Camaro
By 7.23.14
Not to be outdone by Chrysler’s recent recall-a-thon, GM has announced six new safety recalls covering more than a dozen models, for a grand total of 717,949 vehicles. [More]
FCC Reminds Internet Providers & Wireless Companies To Follow Transparency Rules… Or Else
By 7.23.14
Earlier this year, a federal appeals court gutted the part of the 2010 Open Internet Rules dealing with so-called net neutrality. What this decision didn’t affect are the rules requiring that providers of broadband Internet access services disclose accurate information about their service offerings to the public. And so today, the FCC is sending out a reminder to ISPs (both fixed and mobile) that they need to follow the transparency guidelines or face the possibility of penalties. [More]
Now Chrysler Is Recalling 800K Jeep SUVs For Ignition Problems
By 7.22.14
The faulty ignition flu of 2014 is spreading among the car makers of greater Detroit. Months after General Motors began recalling millions of vehicles for defective ignitions that resulted in at least 13 deaths, and a month after NHTSA began looking into possible similar problems at Chrysler, the company has announced a recall of around 800,000 Jeeps to fix ignition switches that might turn off inadvertently. [More]
Video Shows You Don’t Need All That Fine Print In Prepaid Card Fee Disclosures
By 7.22.14
Prepaid debit cards may offer a convenient alternative for unbanked consumers, but there are often unexpected costs buried in all the fine print of the cards’ disclosure documents that most people never read. It doesn’t need to be that way. [More]
You Can’t Sell “Made In The USA” Seals Without Checking That Products Live Up To That Label
By 7.22.14
As we’ve talked about in previous stories, while there are federal guidelines about what constitutes a “Made In America” product, manufacturers are operating on an honor system because it would be too onerous a task for the government to actually investigate every product claiming to be American-made. But if a company charges thousands of dollars for seals that indicate that a product’s Made In USA bona fides have been verified, it should actually be doing something to check those claims. [More]
The CFPB Has Only Just Begun Tackling Financial Services In Its First Four Years
By 7.21.14
Four years ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created – and three years ago it opened its doors – as a safeguard to ensure the financial industry followed the rules when selling products and services to consumers – and a lot has happened since that time. [More]
Possible Listeria Contamination Leads To Recall Of Fruit, Fruit Pies
By 7.21.14
There have been no recorded illnesses yet from batches of yellow peaches and nectarines, white peaches and nectarines, black plums, and pluots that may be contaminated with the nasty foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. The company has announced a recall, and Northeastern grocer Wegmans has also recalled pies made with affected fruit. [More]
