World’s Largest Debt Collection Operation Settles FTC Charges, Will Pay $3.2 Million Penalty Largest Civil Penalty Ever Obtained by the FTC Against a Third-party Debt Collector The world’s largest debt collection operation, Expert Global Solutions and its subsidiaries, has agreed to stop harassing consumers with allegedly illegal debt collection calls and to pay a $3.2…
Here is a great article about how the US Supreme Court is destroying consumer protections and allowing lawbreaking employers to steal wages. http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jul/06/business/la-fi-scotus-employees-20130706
Automakers like Kia, Honda, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz are trying to create a secret, private “justice” system as the only remedy for the Lemons they sell — it’s called “arbitration.” Arbitrators, who are paid by the automakers for their services, don’t have to follow the law and don’t have to consider the facts. Their decisions are…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing changes to the Used Car Buyers Guide required by the agency’s Used Car Rule. As explained by the FTC, “The Used Car Rule, formally known as the Used Motor Vehicle Trade Regulation Rule, has been in effect since 1985 and requires car dealers to display a window sticker,…
The Pew Center on the States released a report examining the 100 largest financial institutions’ dispute resolution clauses for checking accounts. Of the account agreements reviewed, Pew found that 64 percent restricted dispute resolutions in one or more of the following ways: mandatory arbitration, class action bans, jury trial waivers, restrictions on damages, and shortened…
About a week ago I received an e-mail from Paypal entitled “Notice of Policy Updates.” Though the name doesn’t sound ominous, what the e-mail was really about is. The e-mail stated: “PayPal recently posted a new Policy Update which includes changes to the PayPal User Agreement. The update to the User Agreement is effective November…
The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) is a nonprofit advocacy organization that works tirelessly for a fair marketplace. In support of its mission to support consumers, NCLC offers many brochures on its website designed to educate consumers on critical issues. Below is a partial list of their consumer education brochures that can all be downloaded…
The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) recently released a survey indicating that the non-driving factors used in setting auto insurance prices, such as level of education, occupation, and lack of previous insurance, are considered unfair by consumers. A CFA analysis found that these factors are used by most major insurers and can increase premiums by…
This week the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) released the results of a study, which revealed that one out of five consumers are likely to receive a meaningfully different credit score than a lender would receive. The CFPB analyzed credits scores from 200,000 credit files from each of the three major credit reporting agencies: TransUnion,…
