Archive for June, 2008

United Airlines To Charge $15 For First Checked Bag | Consumerist

More on LifeLock. Think Twice Before Paying for Credit Protection | Lifehacker

Tips for Dealing with a Stolen Credit or Bank Card | Queercents

Dave Bruno thinks he can (not counting shared family things, that is). I’m not sure I could, but I love the idea. I wonder if I could get my wife to go along with it. (Not likely.)
Think how much easier it would be to move! Think how much money you would save if you didn’t [...]

More on how arbitration screws consumers from Elizabeth Warren. Have You Already Lost? | TPMCafé

Identity protection ads come back to bite LifeLock CEO | BoingBoing

Nathalie Martin at Credit Slips reports that many internet payday loans are illegal and therefore unenforceable. But they can be a big problem, since most automatically deduct their fee from consumers’ bank accounts and roll over without warning.
Since many of these loans are illegal under state payday lending laws, consumers can simply change bank accounts [...]

Chicago joins California and Minnesota in the news, as its civil courts try to deal with moving more than 119,000 debt collection lawsuits through the system.

Insurance Insider Tells How To Appeal Coverage Denial | Consumerist

According to Glenda, she paid $600 to get her home re-appraised after Citibank suspended her home equity line of credit. All to no avail, as she has been unable to get Citibank to reopen her line of credit, even though the appraisal shows she has equity in her home.

According to an Associated Press-AOL Health poll, over half of those with debt (i.e., everybody) reported some physical effects of debt-related stress, from muscle tension to migraines, all the way to ulcers and heart attacks.
That’s it, Congress, the credit crisis is now a national economic and health problem.
That’s it, consumers, pay off the debts and [...]

“The business of resolving credit-card disputes is booming. But critics say the dominant firm favors creditors that are trying to collect from unsophisticated debtors” Banks vs. Consumers (Guess Who Wins) [BusinessWeek]

The Federal Reserve Board and two other regulators recently surprised consumer advocates by proposing some decent rules that would reform credit card lending. Six AFFIL Partners issued a joint statement calling the proposal as “an important first step to stop credit card companies from pumping up their profits by using hidden traps and tricks [...]

Get your TransUnion score here! Free credit scores for all consumers? Almost… [The Red Tape Chronicles]

In response to the tanking housing market, Minnesota passed some pretty strong mortgage industry regulation last year. Alex Stenback points to an article in the Strib reporting that there are now less than half as many mortgage originators as last year. And 50 mortgage brokers surrendered their licenses, as well.
More than 50 Minnesota mortgage brokers [...]

“Two defendants have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges for allegedly victimizing Spanish-speaking consumers nationwide by posing as debt collectors seeking money the consumers did not owe.” Defendants in Debt Collection Scheme Aimed At Hispanics Agree to Settle FTC Charges [FTC News]

Home foreclosures, late payments set records in first quarter of 2008 [StarTribune]

Last week was quite a week for arbitration. Here was all the arbitration news that popped up here on Caveat Emptor:

Mandatory binding arbitration sucks (say 81% of Americans). Taking a look at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce study on mandatory binding arbitration.
National Arbitration Forum thinks courts should just rubber stamp arbitration awards. NAF on getting [...]

Apparently it is the reduced availability of credit. Think of it as the natural consequence of the overabundance of credit that tanked our economy in the first place. And it may last for a couple of years.
Consider this a good reason to move your finances to a cash model.
Experts: ‘Credit recession’ could last two years [...]

Countrywide Is About To Foreclose On Ed McMahon | Consumerist