New Consumer Protection Agency To Monitor Lenders
The Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group recently released a report which revealed practices of lenders who offer private or student loans. Private loans differ from Federally based loans. Private loans have no capped limit on interest rates and some lenders are charging significant up front fees in order to originate the loan.
Because of these practices, [...]
FTC Reporting Abusive Debt Collection Tactics
The FTC has received more than 45,000 complaints about debt collectors in the first half of the year, up almost 20% compared to the first six months of 2008. Debt collection agencies have been under more scrutiny in the last year than ever before.
If you are like many other Americans who have fallen behind on [...]
Consumer Protection Agency One Step Closer To Reality
New legislation passed by the House of Representatives, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, would give the government new powers to break up companies that threaten the national economy. The Federal regulatory restructuring would require the creation of a new agency that will be responsible for overseeing consumer banking and rein in shady [...]
Report Reveals Deceptive Practices of Credit Card Issuers
A new research study just released from The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) finds credit card companies are working hard to find loopholes in order to bypass the new regulations being imposed by the Federal Reserve Board.
This study examined the practices of issuers that hold over 400 million credit card accounts. It found eight tactics [...]
Banks Forced To Make Changes, Consumers Benefit
Bank of America has launched a new program that will offer to their credit card customers an easy to understand list of terms and conditions for each customers account. This is in response to the credit CARD Act enacted in May 2009 and will be in full effect starting February 2010.
The credit CARD Act requires a [...]
Debt Relief Companies Under Fire
The Federal Trade Commission is proposing stricter rules for debt relief agencies by requiring them to disclose, in greater detail, how their programs work as well as limiting up-front fees.
Debt settlement, a predatory debt relief option, entails deliberately failing to pay creditors until an agreement is reached to pay only a portion of the balance [...]
