Consumers in Illinois have a new gift card law coming into effect next month, says the Springfield State Journal-Register. The new law will prohibit gift cards from expiring within 5 years of being issued.
Under the new law, the recipient of a $50 gift card — for example — will be able to spend the entire $50, said the measure’s House sponsor, Democratic Rep. Jack Franks of Woodstock.
Lisa Madigan, the attorney general of Illinois, is investigating subprime mortgage lender Countrywide “as part of the state’s expanding inquiry into dubious lending practices that have trapped borrowers in high-cost mortgages they can no longer afford,” says the New York Times.
About six months ago I moved into my apartment in Chicago to learn that the only service available was with DirecTV. Not only that, but we were forced to use MDU communications, a DirecTV reseller. With no options for television, I reluctantly purchased my own HD receiver off eBay (The HR-20) to avoid entering into a contract with them for two years. When I received my unit, I called MDU to sign up and the CSR at MDU told me that since I had my own receiver, I could sign directly up with DirecTV. Awesome I thought, I can cut out the middle man. The CSR at MDU even transferred me to DirecTV account set up line himself.
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) is the Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, which recently held hearings about the state of toy safety in the U.S. What did Sen. Durbin take away from those hearings?
You know what? We’re just going to buy our own. Thanks.
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Corrupt Government: Prison sentence for fraud and racketeering and a Nobel peace prize nomination. Who says you can’t deserve both? [NPR]
Adam
We looked up the weekly circular for Naperville, IL and sure enough. There it is. No mention of a misprint. We think Circuit City should honor this offer. There’s really no reason to believe it was a misprint.
Our home state of Illinois is the largest producer of pumpkins in the US (Yes, we really do think that’s cool, ok?)
Reader and commenter ChicagoOutfit is having trouble with Illinois’ much-loved tollway system. His I-Pass account has someone else’s transponder attached to it and he’s paying for some random jerk’s tolls. He calls the ISTHA and has it removed, but Illinois doesn’t refund his money and the transponder keeps coming back.
A man who purchased a lawn tractor at the Edwardsville, IL Home Depot went back inside to buy some more stuff while employees loaded his tractor onto his truck.
Discover card holders, check your bills. You may be one of 400,000 lucky members getting their interest rates significantly increased for no apparent reason.
We received a “Love Note” separately from our statement from Discover stating that our APR will be rising from 12.74% to 19.99% . While I do carry a small balance on the card sometimes, it has never been one that I use much because I have cards that are below 8% APR and still offer rewards. Now, my credit isn’t bad (744 FICO – just checked after getting off the phone with Discover). I have no past dues, never pay late, etc. I also noticed that the statement said “this decision to change your terms was NOT based upon information in your credit file”.
“My grandmother informs them once they are done that she will not be paying them any more money, and that this has gone to the states attorney’s office. On hearing this, one of the installers gets on his cell phone and calls his boss. They talk, he hangs up and walks into the bathroom and proceeds to take off the tub door. He walks out of the bathroom with this door and my grandmother says what are you doing and grabs the door…”
Comcast will add TBS HD to their line-up in Boston Tuesday, a day before Major League Baseball’s playoffs start, but Chicago isn’t getting the same treatment according to reader Daniel.
Buying LaSalle will make BofA (NYSE:BAC) a dominant player in Chicago for the first time. At present, BofA has less than 2 percent of that market’s deposits, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Here’s a weird situation from Orland Park, IL. Mike Quilty, who works for a subcontractor for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, went to Best Buy to purchase a refrigerator.
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Bank of America got the final OK it needed to go ahead with its purchase of LaSalle Bank [Chicago Tribune].
When Robert Hancock of Carterville, IL got his monthly power bill, it made him mad. Why? Because it was $526.62—up 200% from the previous month.
We checked but couldn’t find a clause in the Fair Debt Collection Practices act that dealt with the legal implications of repossessing a SUV with a 4-year-old child inside of it, but we’re fairly sure it’s not really allowed.
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