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
Consumers Score Important Wins in Omnibus Rider In good news for consumers, Congress announced this week that it had reached agreement on an omnibus spending bill that was largely, though not completely, free of policy riders attacking important consumer protections. The bill must still be approved by Congress, always a tricky process for such a … Continued
There are many real privacy problems in the United States today, from unfettered tracking of our activities online to the erosion of our rights against unwanted calls. Instead of focusing on how to improve our privacy protection, however, Congress is wasting time on a hearing about a threat to privacy that doesn’t exist – the … Continued
Consumer Reports Rates Credit Unions Higher Than Banks In an article on banking services in its January 2016 issue, Consumer Reports writes that “credit unions are among the highest-rated services we’ve ever evaluated, with 93 percent of their customers highly satisfied, on average, vs. 69 percent for the four biggest national banks.” The article suggests … Continued
Wall Street is attempting to hijack the appropriations process to try to kill a Department of Labor rule which would protect the savings of millions of Americans. The rule is supported by President Obama, Senator Booker, Senator Warren, and other leaders in Washington who understand that this rule is necessary for the dignity and security … Continued
Given the relentless news about data breaches, it’s not surprising that members of Congress are concerned and feel that federal legislation is needed. Unfortunately, H.R. 2205, which will be considered by the House Financial Services Committee today, would not help Americans much – in fact, it would actually weaken existing protections and make it harder … Continued
Consumers Expect to Spend Slightly Less During the Holidays This Year Consumers report slightly lower intended holiday spending in 2015 than they reported in 2014, according to the 16th annual CFA and Credit Union National Association (CUNA) holiday spending survey. In both years, the same percentage (10 percent) said they would spend more; however, more … Continued
New Efforts Emerge to Derail DOL Conflict of Interest Rule New efforts have emerged in recent weeks to derail the Department of Labor’s proposed conflict of interest rule, which would require all financial professionals to put their customers’ interests first when providing retirement investment advice. Although just weeks ago House Democrats mounted a strong stand … Continued
Today, U.S. PIRG released their 30th annual Trouble in Toyland report. The report highlights that America’s store shelves still contain dangerous toys. Parents should avoid buying toys that contain toxic chemicals, including chromium and phthalates, as well as toys that pose a choking hazard, are loud enough to damage a child’s ears, or contain powerful magnets … Continued
Kudos to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for making it harder for fraudulent telemarketers to steal consumers’ money. The agency announced that it is amending its Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) to ban certain forms of payment that don’t offer consumers adequate protection if they’ve been scammed. These payment methods – remotely created checks and payment … Continued
With so many stories about identity theft in the news these days, it’s clear that we need to do more to prevent the misuse of people’s personal information and assist the victims. Government documents or benefits fraud, the most common type of identity theft problem reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last year, is … Continued
Anti-Safety Highway Bill Heading to President Congress is working to finalize a highway reauthorization bill by November 20, 2015, when the current highway authorization bill expires. The House passed their version of the DRIVE Act (H.R. 22) last Thursday and needs to work out the differences with the Senate’s version to get it to the … Continued
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 that has now been signed into law took a swipe at our rights not to receive robocalls and texts to our cell phones without our explicit consent. Section 301 exempts callers who are trying to collect debts that are owed to or guaranteed by the federal government. This giant … Continued
U.S. PIRG recently released a new report that explains how placing security freezes on one’s credit reports is the only way to prevent new account identity theft. It’s a proactive step that’s easy and inexpensive to take. Why bother? Based on identity theft complaints to the Federal Trade Commission last year, consumers’ stolen personal information … Continued
House Prepares to Vote on Anti-Investor ‘Retail Investor Protection Act’ As the House of Representatives prepares to vote this week on legislation that would impede the ability of regulators to strengthen protections for investors and retirement savers who turn to financial professionals for investment advice, CFA wrote to members urging them to vote no on … Continued
CFPB Considers Limiting Class Action Bans in Consumer Contracts The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced last week that it is considering proposing rules that would prohibit consumer financial companies from including arbitration clauses in customer contracts that prevent consumers from participating in class action lawsuits. Although the proposal falls short of the total ban … Continued
It’s hard to imagine life without our telephones. They’re a vital link to our friends and relatives, doctors and other service providers, government agencies and emergency personnel, shops and restaurants. Mobile phones have become ubiquitous; last year it was reported that 90 percent of American adults owned a cell phone and 64 percent had smartphones. … Continued
Today’s decision by the European Court of Justice invalidating the “Safe Harbor” agreement between the US and EU should have come as no surprise. Privacy advocates on both sides of the Atlantic have long argued that this self-regulatory program, which enables US companies to transfer Europeans’ personal information to servers in the US, does not … Continued
Another day, another disheartening news story about a data breach, this time compromising T-Mobile customers’ personal information, including Social Security numbers, addresses, and birthdates. Apparently hackers stole the information from Experian, the credit bureau that T-Mobile uses to check consumers’ credit records when they apply for phone plans or financing to buy phones. It’s a … Continued
When the Federal Trade Commission recently sued Roca Labs, Inc., it wasn’t only because the company allegedly made bogus claims for its weight-loss products. The FTC also asserted that it was unfair for Roca to include “gag clauses” in its terms of service that forbade customers from saying anything bad about the company or its … Continued
FIO Urged to Adopt Strong Auto Insurance Affordability Standard Responding to a request for information from the Federal Insurance Office (FIO), more than 50 consumer, civil rights, and community groups, including CFA, joined in urging the FIO to establish a strong affordability standard for low- and moderate-income Americans. “In more than one out of every … Continued
Fannie Mae last week announced a significant new product, HomeReadyTM, designed to expand the company’s ability to provide financing for low and moderate income borrowers. HomeReady builds on the company’s historical family of low-down payment mortgage products with flexible underwriting features, starting with Community Home BuyersTM in 1993 and continuing through the My Community Mortgage® product. … Continued
Bill to Protect Children from E-Cigarettes Advances in House Legislation to protect children from e-cigarettes was approved by the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade last month. H.R. 3242, the Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act of 2015, directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to promulgate a rule requiring liquid nicotine containers to be … Continued