News

2012

January

21

• Coping with high-priced insurance that lenders make you buy. Force-placed insurance. Most homeowners never hear about it until their mortgage lender sends them a letter saying that they must have flood or some other kind of insurance and that if they don’t act

19

• Mortgage settlement deal "very close". The federal government is "very close" to a settlement with mortgage servicers that could help a million homeowners by reducing what they owe on their mortgages, Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan told a meeting of the

• NHTSA ill-equipped to assess cars' high-tech systems. The nation's top auto safety regulator is ill-equipped to detect problems with high-tech electronics that are increasingly commonplace in today's cars, a new government study has concluded. Calling such shortcomings "troubling," the report called on

13

• Credit score zealots pursue fool’s errand over 800. eff Rose, a 33-year-old financial planner, is trying to improve his credit score even though it’s 780, which is 69 points above the median score. Rose, who lives in Carbondale, Illinois, said he opened up a

• Foreclosure reviews to take longer than expected. Reviews of hundreds of thousands of foreclosure cases ordered by regulators last year will take months longer to complete than first expected, according to documents filed with federal banking regulators. The delays could postpone compensation

10

• Obama needs to find his backbone on healthcare reform. It's wrong to call the president of the United States a weenie. So I'll just say instead that perhaps President Obama could show a little more spine when it comes to healthcare reform. Sure, he

• Bill would regulate Buy Here Pay Here used-car lots. Used-car dealers known as Buy Here Pay Here lots would be regulated by the state as lenders under new legislation aimed at curbing what some critics say are abusive and predatory lending practices. The bill,

• Some doctors charge your credit card number upfront. After a year abroad, my daughter came home last summer, unusually fatigued and with more severe asthma symptoms than when she left. After a thorough checkup, her new doctor, a family practice physician, referred us

05

• Protect your money: How to research a broker. Q: How can one research the reputation of a brokerage firm using online tools? Please use Edward Jones as an example. A: Gone are the days investors would just get a suggestion for an brokerage

• Obama appoints Cordray to head consumer watchdog bureau. In a bold act of political defiance, President Obama installed Richard Cordray as head of a new consumer watchdog agency Wednesday, bypassing Republican opposition in the Senate that derailed his nomination last month. Obama cast

03

• Better not to claim Social Security benefits early. The U.S. economy has made modest gains recently. Consumer confidence rose during the fall, and the stock market has stabilized. Meanwhile, employment appears poised to pick up, and even the housing market is showing

01

• Consumer protection made big gains in 2011. The last year was a remarkable one for consumer protection. Among the wins: A new watchdog agency opened for business, regulators cracked down on a controversial merger and a major bank retreated from a dubious

2011

December

22

• Victims in Countrywide mortgage case could get thousands. Consumers who were victims of mortgage discrimination could get anywhere from $500 to thousands of dollars each as a result of a settlement announced Wednesday by the Justice Department. Under the deal, Bank of America's Countrywide

• Bank of America to pay $335M to settle claims of unfair Countrywide loans. Bank of America agreed Wednesday to pay $335 million to settle federal claims that its Countrywide Financial unit charged black and Hispanic borrowers higher mortgage fees in the lead up to the financial crisis and steered

20

• The Middle-class agenda. Earlier this month, President Obama delivered his first unabashed 2012 campaign speech. Unlike his opponents, Mr. Obama acknowledged the ravages of income equality, the hollowing out of the American middle class. There is no hyperbole in

• Tips to avoid car-crash insurance mistakes. AAA forecasts that a remarkable 91.9 million Americans will take passenger-vehicle trips 50 miles or more from home this holiday season -- Dec. 23 through Jan. 2 -- and that's up 1.4% from last year, as settling fuel prices spur

• Flexible spending account deadline near. In years past, depleting money in your health care flexible spending account before the end of the year was fairly straightforward. You made a midnight dash to the nearest 24-hour drugstore and bought enough cold

15

• Privacy and consumer groups' statement of support for CFPB data use.                      Center for Digital Democracy * Consumer Action* Consumer Federation of America * Consumer Watchdog * Privacy Rights Clearinghouse *

• Mortgage aid program stumbled from the start. "Congratulations" began the letter, dated Sept. 27. Lorraine and Jude Austin, who had battled against foreclosure for two years, were "approved" for $48,113 in federal mortgage assistance, read the letter from the Department of Housing and Urban

• 7 secrets to super customer service. Even pros are suckers for flattery Front-line phone reps are cursed at, threatened or belittled seven times a day on average, according to researchers at Pennsylvania State University who studied two call centers for a