House Passes Appropriations Bill That Would Undermine Consumer Protections The House of Representatives voted along largely party lines earlier this month to approve a Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act (H.R. 5485), which rolls back important consumer protections and undermines the ability of crucial agencies to fulfill their missions of protecting consumers and investors. … Continued
CFPB Urged to Close Loopholes in Payday, Car Title Rule Representatives of leading consumer, community, religious and civil rights organizations, including Consumer Federation of America, issued a joint statement last week, urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to close some “concerning loopholes” in the payday and car title loan rule proposals that could allow … Continued
CFPB Proposes Rule to Stop Payday and Car Title Loan Debt Traps The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed a rule last week to end payday debt traps by requiring lenders to take steps to make sure consumers can repay their loans. The rule would cover payday loans, auto title loans, deposit advance products, and … Continued
Earlier this week, National Public Radio and PBS Frontline aired powerful and distressing reports on the state of the National Flood Insurance Program. The programs focused on two key aspects of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in the wake of Superstorm Sandy: claims handling and insurance company profits. Watch the PBS Frontline program. Listen … Continued
CFPB Proposes to Restore Consumers’ Right to Join Class Actions Earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced proposed rules to prohibit bans on class action lawsuits in consumer financial product contracts. Class action bans, generally buried within forced arbitration clauses requiring consumers to waive their right to go to court if a … Continued
The Illinois Senate Insurance Committee held a subject matter hearing on SB 2208 earlier this month, which prohibits the use of consumer’s credit information or credit report to calculate auto insurance rates. State and national consumer groups Citizen Action Illinois, Woodstock Institute, Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union testified at the hearing urging lawmakers … Continued
CFPB Documents Need for Stronger Payday Loan Protections By illustrating the harm caused when payday lenders use direct access to a borrowers’ bank account to collect payments – including frequent, high overdraft fees and even account closure – a new report released last week by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) documents the need for … Continued
Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union have endorsed a new bill offered by Congresswoman Jackie Speier (CA-14), the Repeated Objectionable Bothering of Consumers on Phones (ROBOCOP) Act. The legislation aims to provide consumers with better protection from illegal robocalls and fake Caller ID. These aren’t merely annoying – they are used by unscrupulous businesses … Continued
DOL Adopts Landmark Protections for Retirement Savers Earlier today the Department of Labor announced that it had finalized long-awaited rules to strengthen protections for workers and retirees who turn to financial professionals for advice on how best to save and investment for retirement. Years in the making, the rules require all financial professionals to act … Continued
Car insurance should be priced to reflect the risk of the driver getting into an accident. But in Maryland, insurance companies use non-driving related factors — including education, occupation, marital status, homeownership and credit — to set the rate that a driver pays for insurance. This allows them to determine who might be a more … Continued
If you’ve had to change an airline ticket or check bags recently, you know that it can cost you a lot. Sometimes the change fee is more than price of the ticket itself. And it’s bad enough that most airlines charge for checked luggage, but it’s hard to understand why the second bag and third … Continued
More and more people are using their cell phones, tablets and other mobile devices to pay for purchases. On the street in front of our office here at Consumer Federation of America, you can pay for parking with your mobile device, and you can buy coffee at the Starbucks around the corner with it, too. … Continued
Less Than Half of U.S. Households Report Good Savings Progress Only two-fifths (40 percent) of U.S. households report good or excellent progress in “meeting their savings needs,” according to the ninth annual America Saves Week survey. The survey was released at the start of the tenth annual America Saves Week, in which more than 1,800 … Continued
On the Web: CFA’s Rachel Weintraub and Michael Best present their work on the dangers of off-highway vehicles on, and the need to keep them off of, roads for a webinar hosted by SafeKids.
Renters Pay More than Homeowners for Auto Insurance Major auto insurance companies charge good drivers as much as 47 percent more for basic liability auto insurance if they don’t own their home, according to a new analysis of premiums released this week by CFA. Based on a sampling of insurance quotes across the country for … Continued
Automakers spent an estimated 90 million dollars on Super Bowl ads, one of the most watched shows in the history of television. Now that gas prices are at historical lows, are the car companies going back to promoting their gas guzzlers? The good news is that the majority of vehicles shown in the Super Bowl … Continued
Consumer Federation of America’s work on raising awareness of, and pushing back against, the trend toward allowing off-highway vehicles (OHVs) on roads depends upon analyzing and sharing information that is useful and accessible. Most OHV fatalities take place on roads because OHVs are not designed to be driven on roads. Yet CFA has documented a … Continued
New Protections for Retirement Savers Move One Step Closer to Reality The Department of Labor submitted its conflicts of interest rule to the Office of Management and Budget last week, moving these long-overdue protections for retirement savers one step closer to completion. The rule would require all financial professionals to act in the best interests … Continued
Michael Best, Senior Policy Advocate at the Consumer Federation of America, discusses CFA’s recent national poll results where 4 out of 5 respondents believe paid tax preparers should have to pass a competency test, be licensed and provide a list of fees before completing a tax return. Michael highlights the poll results, discusses the current … Continued
Earlier this week, Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and nearly sixty other organizations sent a letter to Tom Wheeler, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), urging him to begin a rulemaking process as soon as possible to protect the privacy of broadband Internet users. Now that the FCC has reclassified broadband as a “telecommunications … Continued
More than 500 Off-Highway Vehicle Deaths in 2015 In a grim milestone, the number of fatalities from Off-Highway Vehicles (OHV) surpassed 500 at the end of 2015, according to information compiled by CFA and the Off-Highway Vehicle Safety Coalition. The coalition, which is composed of ATV safety advocates, academics, and medical professionals, compiles the data … Continued
Much of CFA’s work on privacy focuses on corporate surveillance – companies collecting and using our personal information, often without our knowledge or consent. But government surveillance is also a major concern (in fact, the two issues are intertwined, since in many cases the government is obtaining information about our activities from our telephone companies, … Continued
Community housing and community development advocates could see new opportunities for financing from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2016 and beyond under a new draft rule proposed December 15, 2015. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the regulator and conservator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, issued the proposed rule to carry out the “duty to … Continued
A rule recently proposed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) made me scratch my head and wonder, “what are those folks at the IRS thinking?” If adopted, the rule would require nonprofit organizations to ask people who donate $250 or more for their Social Security numbers (SSNs). The idea is to make it easier for … Continued
Unbeknownst to many consumers, there is a hidden health hazard lurking in some of the children’s products, furniture, mattresses and electronics that they use every day. A class of toxic flame retardants frequently used in manufacturing these items poses serious health hazards to the public. Due to these hazards, Consumer Federation of America, with a … Continued