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Consumer Law

California Credit Law Blog

Covers California Consumer Law, including news and events dealing with Consumer Law.
By Kemnitzer, Anderson, Barron, Ogilvie & Brewer

Post Frequency: 0.6/day

Last Entry: March 21, 2011 at 21:15:33

Prof Elizabeth Warren has been

Posted on June 18, 2010
Prof Elizabeth Warren has been the leading advocate for creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The proposed new agency is part of the financial reform bill currently being debated in a Senate House conference committee. Writing on Politico...

Why We Need a Consumer Financial Protection Agency

Court Condemns Attorney's Illegal Credit Repair Scheme

Posted on May 28, 2010
Credit repair schemes almost always require payment in advance of any results. Typically, the customer pays the money and then gets no results. To curb this abuse, the federal Credit Repair Organizations Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 1679f, prohibits anyone from offering to improve a customer's credit to charge money in advance...

Home Loan Modifications Impact Credit Scores

Posted on May 23, 2010
Today, the San Francisco Chronicle reports on the problem of homeowners who get a loan modification and who end up with a ding on their credit reports. The problem is that the banks holding the mortgages report the homeowners are late on their payments or that they are paying less than is owed...

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Senate Votes for Free Credit Scores

Posted on May 18, 2010
The Senate passed an amendment that will allow consumers free access to their credit score if their score negatively affects them in a financial transaction or a hiring decision. The amendment was offered by Senator Mark Udall, Democrat of Colorado.

Stealing Identity to Get Medical Services

Posted on May 12, 2010
Most identity theft is for the purpose of stealing money and goods, but another type of identity theft involves theft of medical records. The thief assumes the identity of another person with medical insurance coverage in order to obtain medical services...

California May Bar Credit Checks on Job Seekers

Posted on May 03, 2010
Employers are increasingly running credit checks on prospective employees. This practice will be prohibited in California with some exceptions if a bill in the California Legislature is enacted. Assemblyman Tony Mendoza (D-Norwalk)'s bill, AB 482, would restrict credit checks except for jobs that involving handling money or certain personal information...

Disputing Inaccuracies in Credit Reports by Contacting the Creditor

Posted on March 27, 2010
The Fair Credit Reporting Act currently requires consumers to send dispute letters to the credit reporting agencies even though the inaccuracy originated with a bank or other creditor. This twist in the law is confusing to many consumers as it is counter-intuitive...

Bad Credit Can Mean No Job

Posted on March 16, 2010
More or more job seekers are being turned down for employment based on a bad credit report. The WSJ reports that 47% of employers check credit history for at least some positions. Most do so with respect to jobs with fiduciary or financial responsibility or for senior positions...

New Rules for "Free" Credit Reports

Posted on March 03, 2010
In 2003, the federal Government required the three national credit agencies to establish a website where consumers could download their credit reports free, once a year. Unfortunately, the Government foolishly allowed the agencies to include advertising on the site, www...

Reporting Most Criminal Records over 7 Years Old is Illegal

Posted on February 19, 2010
The Fair Credit Reporting Act provides that credit reporting agencies may not report records of arrest or any other adverse criminal action that are more than seven (7) years old, except for convictions of crimes. A growing problem is that many Internet based companies are selling criminal records over 7 years old...

Which Banks are Complying with the Credit Card Act?

Posted on February 17, 2010
The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 ("CARD" Act) goes fully into effect in February 2010. If you want to find out which credit card issuers are complying with CARD at this time, go to www.billshrink.com. You can write in the name of your bank and find out to what extent the bank is in compliance...

Lawsuit Alleges Experian's FreeCreditReport.com ads Are Deceptive

Posted on February 12, 2010
A Wisconsin woman has filed a class action alleging that Experian's FreeCreditReport.com ads led her to believe she could go to that site for a free credit report. Once she signed up for her "free" credit report she inadvertently ended up with a a $14...

Mortgage Modifications Affect Credit Scores

Posted on January 11, 2010
Borrowers taking part in the Obama administration's mortgage modification program are being hit with "partial payment" notifications in their credit reports. This damages the borrower's credit even though the borrower may never have been late in payments...

Persons with Credit Disputes Can't Get Mortgages

Posted on January 04, 2010
Fannie Mae and Fannie Mac currently flag any mortgage loan application where the applicant disputes something on a credit report. As reported in the AARP Bulletin, that?s causing denials for applicants, no matter the strength of their qualifications. Loan officers report that many flagged applications get put on hold or simply denied...

FICO Reveals How Mistakes Affect Credit Scores

Posted on November 29, 2009
Banks and other creditors commonly extend credit based on your credit score. Your score is based on such factors as late payments, missed payments, number of open accounts, length of one?s overall credit history, actual amount of available credit used and negative occurrences such as charge-offs and bankruptcy...

Really Free Credit Scores

Posted on November 16, 2009
Consumers are being bombarded with "free" offers for credit reports and credit scores, but there is usually a catch. The consumer may find the free report means being subscribed to requires monthly charges unless he or she remembers to opt out. Or in order to get a free report, there is a fee for the credit score...

Consumer Attorneys Fight for Consumers

Posted on November 12, 2009
George Washington once said: Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all. Letter of Instructions to the Captains of the Virginia Regiments [July 29, 1759]. The advocates of consumer rights, viewing the resources of defense firms and corporate defendants, can relate to the trepidation felt by the out-numbered and out-gunned Continental Army...

Reporting Identity Theft to U.S. Postal Inspectors

Posted on November 05, 2009
Identity theft victims are often required to obtain a police report in order to help prove they really are victims of identity theft. A problem is that some police departments will not take such reports and the great majority never take any action to solve the crime...

Court Holds Statute of Limitations for Telephone Bills is Only Two Years

Posted on October 12, 2009
A federal statute, 47 U.S.C. Section 415 (a), provides that the statute of limitations for civil actions to collect on unpaid telephone bills is two (2) years. Most state statute of limitations are much longer. California's statute is four (4) years for debts based on contracts...

FTC Proposes to Restrict Credit Bureaus Ads for "Free" Credit Reports

Posted on October 10, 2009
Federal law requires the credit agencies to make everyone's credit reports available at no charge on a single website. The feds allowed the three major credit agencies to design the site. Predictably, the credit agencies designed the website, www.annualcreditreport...

WSJ Report on What You Need to Know about Credit Scores

Posted on September 09, 2009
What you need to know about credit scores is covered in the Wall Street Journal published 9/9/09. The article points out that there are really many credit scores besides the best known--FICO--and your credit score may not accurately reflect your financial condition...

Debt Collectors Can't Add Interest to Dishonored Check Debts

Posted on August 12, 2009
Merchants sometimes contract with check guaranty services that pay the merchant for dishonored checks. These services then attempt to collect the face value of the dishonored check. California Civil Code 1719 allows collectors to add a $25 service fee for the first check dishonored and treble the amount of the check if the check writer does not pay within 30 days after notice...

Credit Checks May be Unfair to Job Applicants

Posted on August 09, 2009
The NY Times reports that employers are increasingly running credit checks on job applicants. While that may make sense if the applicant is going to be handling money or guard a Brinks truck, it makes no sense in the case of jobs that do not involve a risk of loss of money...

AAA Exits the Consumer Debt Collection Business

Posted on July 22, 2009
The American Arbitration Association has announced it was dropping its arbitration program for consumer debts. This comes only a few days after the National Arbitration Forum announced it was dropping its consumer debt arbitration program. Most of the cases involved credit card and cell phone debts...

Arbitration Forum Exiting Credit Card Business

Posted on July 20, 2009
The Minnesota Attorney General sued the National Arbitration Forum alleging it was essentially a front for various large banks and collection agencies. NAF falsely held itself it out to be a neutral forum for processing creditors' claims against consumers...

Minnesota Atty General Suit Alleges the National Arbitration Forum Is Fraudulent

Posted on July 14, 2009
Today, the Minnesota Attorney General sued the National Arbitration Forum, the major arbitration firm that banks use to prosecute consumers who owe credit-card debt. The AG's complaint states that NAF represents to the public, the courts, and consumers that it is independent, operates like an impartial court system, and is not affiliated with any party...

Obama's Proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency

Posted on July 03, 2009
A few days ago, the White House sent Congress a bill to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). Everyone who favors consumer protection should support this bill. Georgetown University Law School Professor Adam Levitin argued the case for the creation of the CFPA in the "Credit Slips" blog that covers credit and bankruptcy...

Sites to Get Your Free Credit Scores

Posted on June 11, 2009
The three major credit bureaus charge fees for revealing consumers' credit scores. However, two new sites, www.creditkarma.com and www.quizzle.com, offer free credit scores based on Trans Union and Experian data. The sites allow you to compare your score to a sample of other consumers...

A Towed Car Does Not Establish A Credit Relationship Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

Posted on April 30, 2009
A towing company towed our client's car from the public streets because the registration had expired. The towing company sold the car for nothing. Then it assigned its claim for the towing charge to a collection company, Pacific Creditors. Pacific Creditors pulled our client, Maria Pinto's credit report...

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