Caveat Emptor

Recent Posts from Caveat Emptor

• More Consumer Rights On the Way?

  A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) urges legislators to revise the Fair Debt Collection and Practices Act (FDCPA) to give consumers more rights. Debt defaults are at the highest level in 18…

• TCF Bank To Curb Overdraft Fees

  Jumping ahead of proposed federal legislation, TCF Bank is attempting to curb its own overdraft fees, starting early next year. Under the current system, customers can get hammered with multiple overdraft fees in the same…

• Americans for Financial Reform and the Showdown in Chicago

  The movement for consumer justice has gotten bigger and stronger, and if you’re in Chicago next week you can experience it firsthand.  Americans for Financial Reform (AFR), a big coalition of which AFFIL is a…

• The New Debtors’ Prison

  Debtors’ prison was supposedly eliminated in the United States in the 19th century, but in the 21st, people are still being arrested and tossed into jail for debts. It just takes an extra step these…

• White House on the Proposed CFPA

  White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee on the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency: (via Consumerist)

• Reverse Mortgages Threaten Seniors’ Wealth

  A new report from the National Consumer Law Center explains in detail how “[a]buses and abusers from the subprime mortgage industry have begun showing up in the reverse mortgage market, putting at risk the equity…

• Overdrafts Generate Big Bucks For Banks

  An estimated 45% of the country’s banks make more from overdraft fees than they do from credit card fees(!). They will generate $27 billion in covering overdrafts on checking accounts this year. Proposed legislation, however,…

• Stop Telemarketing Calls (and Sue if They Keep Calling)

  If you do not already know about the National Do Not Call Registry, hie thee hither and put your name down. Once you are on the registry, telemarketers may not call you for five years.…

• Link Roundup, week of 9.21.09

  Here are an assortment of juicy consumer links I haven’t had time to write about: Old Debts Under $100 Don’t Matter Under FICO ‘08 | Consumerist Bank Of America Reaches Out To Angry YouTube Star…

• Strategic Mortgage Defaults on the Rise

  Strategic default—walking away from your home and mortgage—is getting more common. The interesting part is who is doing it: according to a recent study, people with good credit. For such consumers, strategic default may be…