November 13, 2009 - The Federal Reserve has just released a rule that will restrict the way that banks interact with their customers for overdraft fees. These fees are the largest single source of revenue for banks now. In 2009, it is estimated that banks will collect approximately $38.5 Billion in debit card and checking account overdraft fees. The new rule will restrict these fees but they may very well be replaced with other substitute charges and they don't cover all types of purchases. Read Full Story

What state should have jurisdiction over companies that operate nationally? That may sound like a silly question, but it is exactly the question being pondered by the Supreme Court this week. And any decision reached by the Court is likely to have a big impact on business, consumers and state consumer protection laws. Read Full Story

You may have seen their ads and wondered out loud, "Who the heck is Ally Bank?" They apparently came out of nowhere and they are offering some of the highest interest rates available on savings accounts and CD's. If you are sitting on hoards of cash and wondering what to do with it, you probably find their ads appealing. You may change your tune however when you learn that Ally Bank probably wouldn't be able to offer those high interest rates if it hadn't received more than $7 Billion in TARP... Read Full Story

November 4, 2009 - Few state legislatures have proven themselves as incapable of solving their budget issues as California's. The state has resorted to playing numbers games - deferring costs from one year to the next - rather than making substantive changes that actually tighten the belt. The one thing the legislature can't do however is raise taxes. That's because California's Constitution requires a two thirds majority of the legislature for any tax increases. This has made a tax increase ... Read Full Story

November 3, 2009 - Where exactly is investigation of football player safety listed among Congress's constitutionally enumerated powers? That is a question you might have asked yourself over the past week because last Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee decided to waste your tax dollars by investigating the subject! This begs a number of questions. Perhaps the most obvious one is what does the Judiciary Committee have to do with the NFL? Just as importantly, in the event I missed the cons... Read Full Story

October 30, 2009 - Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) dropped a 1,900 page healthcare reform bill at the feet of the American people. The bill is more expensive than previously predicted - more than $1 Trillion according to the CBO - and it contains a number of controversial amendments including a "public option". The bill also contains a provision that requires many employers to offer health insurance to their employees. That provision is likely to be a job killer and lead to many ... Read Full Story

October 26, 2009 - Since uncovered medical bills are one of the two primary reasons for people to declare bankruptcy, we've been following the debate over healthcare reform closely. Since the beginning of this Great Recession, millions of people have lost their jobs and their health insurance coverage. Millions more are not covered by insurance because they can't afford it or because they don't qualify for most insurance programs due to a preexisting condition. If you fall into one of these c... Read Full Story

October 22, 2009 – Until 2004, national banks had to obey state consumer protection laws. Then the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) got involved and wrote a new operating standard for national banks. That standard said that the states had no authority to enforce their consumer protection laws against banks that were federally chartered. The end result of this was that state attempts to protect consumers from predatory lending practices nearly evaporated, and the regulatory vo... Read Full Story

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking comments from the public on proposed changes to the rules that allow consumers to get free copies of their credit reports on an annual basis. The changes would make it much more difficult for companies to deceptively advertise that they give away free credit reports when, in fact, they actually require you to enroll in paid services to gain access to those reports. ACCESS strongly encourages all of our registered users to participate in this process. Read Full Story

October 12, 2009 – This month, millions of Americans will have the opportunity to review their company provided health insurance and make changes to their policies. This happens once every year and it is known as Open Enrolment; a time in which you can change plans, or make changes to your existing coverage. But this year many companies are treating the Open Enrolment period differently than they have in the past. Those who are used to simply ignoring the Open Enrolment period could be in f... Read Full Story