Five years ago, we told readers looking to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to steer clear of FAFSA.com, as it was not the official Dept. of Education site for the FAFSA. Today, federal regulators announced a $5.2 million settlement with the company behind the now-defunct website for illegal billing practices. [More]
Government Policy
Sen. Al Franken Calls For Federal Investigation Into Apple Music
By 7.23.15
In response to concerns arising from the recent launch of Apple Music, U.S. Senator Al Franken called on both the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the possibility that the tech giant may be creating an anticompetitive environment in the streaming music market. [More]
When Comparing Colleges, It Would Help To Know If A School Is Under Investigation
By 7.22.15
Many consumers thinking of pursuing a higher education weigh the pros and the cons of a specific college: tuition, convenience, available areas of study. Last month, the Department of Education announced it would make the college shopping experience a little easier for prospective students by creating a consumer-facing online college comparison system. While the tool will no doubt be helpful, consumer advocates warn that, as it stands, the system will be missing a vital information: whether or not schools are party to investigation, lawsuits or settlements over harmful and deceptive practices. [More]
45 Attorneys General Agree: Phone Companies Should Give Consumers Ability To Block Robocalls
By 7.22.15
While the FCC tries to allow consumers to take a more active role in which calls they do or don’t receive, a group of 45 state attorneys general (well, 44 states and the AG for the District of Columbia) are calling on the phone companies to just stop dilly dallying and start offering call-blocking services already. [More]
Discover Bank Must Pay $18.5 Million Over Illegal Student Loan Servicing Practices
By 7.22.15
As federal regulators continue to probe potentially unscrupulous student loan servicing practices, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered Discover Bank and its affiliates to pay nearly $18.5 million in refunds and fines for, among other things, overstating amounts due on student loans and failing to notify borrowers of their rights. [More]
Buyers Of Convicted Liar Kevin Trudeau’s Weight Loss Book May Finally Be Getting Refunds
By 7.22.15
Last year, author Kevin Trudeau was sentenced to 10 years behind bars for repeatedly violating pledges to stop lying about the content of his book The Weight Loss Cure “They” Don’t Want You to Know About. Yesterday, nearly a decade after Trudeau was first held in contempt over his misleading claims about this book, a federal judge gave the go-ahead for a plan to finally issue refunds to consumers who purchased the title. [More]
Bill Would Create Program To Notify Drivers Of Safety Recalls When Applying For Registration
By 7.22.15
Earlier this year, legislators introduced a bill that would require consumers to fix any outstanding safety recall on their vehicle before a registration renewal would be granted. While that measure has gone nowhere since March, a newly introduced highway reauthorization bill includes a provision that would create a pilot program for a similar plan. [More]
After Two Reported Deaths, IKEA Offering Free Wall Anchoring Kit For 27M Dressers & Chests That May Tip Over
By 7.22.15
When kids are around furniture, there’s no guarantee that they’ll treat chairs, tables and dressers as such, and instead, might see them as fun things to climb. But scaling furniture that isn’t meant to be scaled could cause it to tip over and crush a young person — especially if it isn’t anchored to the wall. That danger is leading IKEA to offer a free wall anchoring kit for a total of about 27 million chests and dressers, after two deaths were reported from furniture that fell and crushed children underneath. [More]
Complaint Alleges LifeLock Violated 2010 FTC Settlement By Continuing To Make False Claims
By 7.21.15
Back in 2010, identity theft protection company LifeLock entered into an $11 million settlement with federal regulators and several states regarding its use of allegedly false claims regarding the effectiveness of its services. According to those same regulators, the company has violated that agreement by continuing to make claims that fail the truth test. [More]
Expansion Of Military Lending Act Closes Loopholes Exploited By Predatory Lenders
By 7.21.15
Nearly a decade after legislation was put in place to protect U.S. military personnel and their families from predatory financial products, the Military Lending Act received a much-needed update to close loopholes often exploited by shady lenders to skirt the rules and put the financial lives of servicemembers at risk. [More]
USDA Providing $85M In Grants & Loans To Support Rural Broadband
By 7.21.15
The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture might not be the first federal agency that pops into your head when thinking about broaband Internet connectivity, but this week the USDA announced a total of $85 million in loans and grants that it hopes will help farmers and other rural Americans bridge the digital divide. [More]
Citibank Must Pay $700M Over Illegal Marketing, Collection Practices
By 7.21.15
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered Citibank and one of its subsidiaries to pay $700 million in relief to more than 8.8 million consumers for engaging in a string of illegal credit card practices, including deceptively marketing and billing for debt protection and credit monitoring services, and misrepresenting fees related to debt collection actions. [More]
State Of Indiana Does Not Think Senior Center Card Games Are Secret Gambling Den
By 7.20.15
Last week, the Indiana Gaming Commission contacted a senior center in Muncie to let them know that a popular activity, thrice-weekly games of euchre (a four-player card game) was possibly breaking the state’s gambling law. The seniors shut down their game, not wanting to run afoul of gambling regulations. When the story hit local news, the state government clarified that this type of card game was not really what they had in mind for a crackdown on informal gambling venues. [More]
CFPB Reminds Retailers They Can’t Accept Military Allotments For Certain Purchases
By 7.20.15
Allotments allow military servicemembers to automatically direct some of their paycheck to parties of their choosing, ideally for savings, insurance premiums, housing payments, and support of dependents. Until recently, allotments could also be used to make retail purchases, but such transactions weren’t covered by many of the legal protections that come with traditional payment methods like electronic checks and debit cards. Recently enacted rules now prohibit the use of allotments for buying personal property, and federal regulators are reminding retailers they have to follow the law. [More]
Ferrari Latest Automaker To Recall Vehicles For Possible Airbag Defect
By 7.20.15
While 11 automakers have already recalled millions of vehicles equipped with potentially deadly Takata-produced airbags, a twelfth car manufacturer announced it would also recall thousands of cars with safety devices supplied by the Japanese auto parts maker, although for a different, but still dangerous, reason. [More]
Senate Committee Votes Down Several Auto Safety Reforms
By 7.20.15
Since automakers began recalling vehicles in force last year – punctuated by the millions of models covered by General Motors’ massive ignition switch defect and Takata’s explosive airbags – lawmakers have been trying to push through reforms that would make it more difficult to keep potentially deadly automobiles on the roadways. But proposed laws such as those that would impose fines on owners of vehicles who don’t follow-through with recall repairs or barring used car dealers from selling vehicles with unrepaired recalls likely won’t see the light of day after being voted down by a Senate committee last week. [More]
Court Sides With JetBlue Employee Who Reported Passenger For Saying The Word “Bomb”
By 7.17.15
If you’re in a bad mood at the airport and feel tempted to haphazardly include the word “bomb” in any sentence, you probably want to refrain from doing so. A federal appeals court recently sided with JetBlue employees who reported a passenger for making an offhand gripe that was misinterpreted as a bomb threat, and which got her arrested by the FBI. [More]
T-Mobile On The Hook For $17.5M After Nationwide 9-1-1 Outage
By 7.17.15
How important is it that telephone companies provide constant access to 9-1-1 service? Americans make an average of more than 27,000 of these emergency calls an hour, so when a nationwide wireless provider is unable to connect its users to 9-1-1 for even a few hours, they can be on the hook for millions of dollars. [More]
