This week brings news that the National Consumer Law Center and Public Justice's Mandatory Arbitration Abuse Prevention Project helped win a major victory for consumers. In Komarova v. National Credit Acceptance, Inc., the California Court of Appeal held -- as Public Justice urged -- that arbitrations before the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) do not shield debt collectors from liability for violating consumers' rights. The plaintiff, Anastasiya Komarova, was hounded by debt collectors over ... Read Full Story

In a win for consumers one company has agreed to a $1.375 million settlement involving  deceptive online sales practices. The suit was brought about by the Arizona AG's office after they received numerous consumer complaints against the company, Central Coast Nutraceuticals, Inc. who didn't live up to their promise that their product came with a "free trial offer".  In the suit, brought about by the Arizona Attorney General, the AG alleged that CCN used a variety of deceptive tactic... Read Full Story

Senate bill S. 582,  dubbed The Interest Rate Reduction Act, was proposed and introduced to the Senate by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. A companion bill, H.R. 1640 was also introduced in the House by Maurice Hinchey of New York. The Interest Rate Reduction Act would extend interest rate caps -that currently protect federal credit union members from excessive "loan shark" interest rates. The bill would also block lenders from imposing excessive fees to avoid  rate caps. The bill... Read Full Story

It seems hundreds of tweets have gone out with the message "omg!! is it true what they wrote about you in their twit blog?" and linking to a the site twittersblogs.com. If  individuals click on the link, it will take you to a fake site that essentially looks exactly like Twitter's homepage -directing you to insert your user name and password.  However, if you do so,  it tweets out the message, and the the scam spreads. For more on this scam see: WARNING: Twittersblogs is Anothe... Read Full Story

 At the end of 2008, Consumers Union embarked on a special project to record the video stories of individuals experiencing a crisis as a result of the mortgage meltdown. These are the personal stories of several individuals whose experiences reflect the many ways in which abusive mortgages are taking a huge toll on individuals, communities and our economy.These are the stories of real people, real families who found themselves targeted by predatory lending practices and forced to make di... Read Full Story

We've all been taught that history repeats itself. If we don't learn from the mistakes of the past they will continue to occur, right? Then can someone please tell me why it is business as usual in the financial services industry these days? With any luck -- and more than a little consumer outrage -- it won't remain that way. Consumers continue to complain that lenders are back to doing business as usual. Business as usual means the playing field is far from being level, with consumers at th... Read Full Story

Cornell informed more than 45,000 current and former members of the University community that their names and social security numbers had been exposed when a University-owned laptop was stolen earlier this month.The laptop that contained unencrypted names and Social Security numbers was apparently inadvertently left in an unsecured area by an employee. The University has sent out letters and put up a website with FAQ's, that will be updated as information becomes available. Data breaches like... Read Full Story

AFFIL,  is one of several advocacy groups presenting testimony at a House Financial Services Committee hearing today at 10 am. Watch the hearing live or read all witness testimony by visiting the House Financial Services Committee site here.The hearing titled, "Regulatory Restructuring:  Enhancing Consumer Financial Products Regulation,"  will address the importance of creating a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA).Ed Mierzwinski of US PIRG and Travis Plunkett of the Co... Read Full Story

In a press release today, TransUnion and FDCPA Case Listing Service announced a partnership that will allow TU to help debt collectors and creditors figure out which consumers have previously been involved in Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuits. This service they claim will  "assist collectors in determining strategy" when dealing with debtors.  The upside for consumers?  If you have sued debt collectors over illegal collection attempts in the past, they may be less lik... Read Full Story

This latest class action lawsuit filed today against Washington Mutual and Chase Bank directly behind two other suits filed this month (see below) will interest many readers who have written or posted on this blog with similar complaints...the closing of Home Equity loans -without cause.  The class action alleges that Washington Mutual Bank and its new parent, JPMorgan Chase's engaged in mass reductions of Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOC) limits and even suspended accounts by falsely ... Read Full Story