Consumer Law

Mortgage Cram Downs in Legislative Limbo

Posted on February 17, 2009
Mortgage Cram Downs in Legislative Limbo | Change.org Related posts:AIG Was Spending Taxpayer Money Lobbying Against Mortgage RegulationMinnesota has less than half as many mortgage originators this year. Good.Minnesota gives mortgage fraudsters a free pass Related posts:AIG Was Spending Taxpayer Money Lobbying Against Mortgage RegulationMinnesota has less than half as many mortgage originators this year...

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Posted on February 15, 2009
Don’t forget to subscribe to Caveat Emptor. You can have posts emailed to you, add our RSS feed to your reader, or follow us on Twitter. Related posts:Subscribe to Caveat EmptorSubscribe to Caveat Emptor via RSS or emailFollow Caveat Emptor on Twitter Related posts:Subscribe to Caveat EmptorSubscribe to Caveat Emptor via RSS or emailFollow Caveat Emptor on Twitter

Sub-prime time

Posted on February 13, 2009
Sub-Prime Time | Diesel Sweeties Related posts:Quit Claim: scams in prime time.Caveat Emptor Playlist: the sub-prime market explainedSubprime loan delinquency curve nearly vertical Related posts:Quit Claim: scams in prime time.Caveat Emptor Playlist: the sub-prime market explainedSubprime loan delinquency curve nearly vertical

Airbag fraud (Auto Fraud Week)

Posted on February 13, 2009
Failure to replace airbags in rebuilt cars is real and very deadly problem. NPR has a great article on airbag fraud. According to NPR, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reviewed 1,446 fatal crashes and found that in 255 of those cases, the air bags had not been replaced after a previous accident...

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Is the moment right to bring back a usury cap? (AFFIL Week)

Posted on February 13, 2009
Triple-digit interest rates used to be illegal. From Biblical times through the Middle Ages through English colonial law, people realized that the government needed to regulate the inherently unequal relationship between lender and borrower.  One by-gone civilization that didn?t do this was ancient Greece, and they ended up with loads of literal ?debt slaves...

Get your car history from your Uncle Sam? (Auto Fraud Week)

Posted on February 13, 2009
Hopefully in the not-too-distant future you will be able to get all the same information that Carfax sells you for $2.50 from Uncle Sam. I say hopefully because there are a number of forces conspiring to prevent it. The Anti-Car Theft Act (the Act) of 1992 directed the U...

Welcome, Minnesota Lawyer readers!

Posted on February 13, 2009
Thanks for visiting from Minnesota Lawyer! I have been writing this blog since November 2005, although back then, the blog did not have a name or any particular focus other than “law.” I adopted the name and registered this domain in early 2007, and so it has been since then...

Michael Capuano (D-Mass) has some choice words for Wall Street CEOs

Posted on February 12, 2009
Capuano to CEOs: No One Trusts You Anymore | TPM TV Related posts:Will Wall Street come clean?Wall Street panhandlersCommentary: How to prevent the next Wall Street crisis Related posts:Will Wall Street come clean?Wall Street panhandlersCommentary: How to prevent the next Wall Street crisis

Does July of 2010 seem a long way off to anyone else? (AFFIL Week)

Posted on February 12, 2009
On December 18, the Federal Reserve Board released new regulations for credit card issuers.  The substance of the regulations is great ? in some ways it?s even stronger than what was proposed (more on this below).  But the ridiculous problem with the Fed?s announcement is that, for some reason, the rules won?t go into effect [...

Subprime lending dropped in ?07, but people of color still bear the brunt of it (AFFIL Week)

Posted on February 11, 2009
Today marks the release of Changing Patterns XV, the fifteenth annual report on mortgage lending in Massachusetts that I?ve prepared for the Massachusetts Community and Banking Council. Lots of high-cost subprime lenders bit the dust in 2007, so subprime lending fell dramatically that year...

Samonella Peanut CEO won?t eat his own peanuts, cites Fifth Amendment

Posted on February 11, 2009
This cries out for a new “lolconstitution” internet meme. Samonella Peanut CEO won’t eat his own peanuts, cites Fifth Amendment | BoingBoing Related posts:FDA says peanut plant was “lab shopping”Identity protection ads come back to bite LifeLock CEOThe FTC Will Never Ask You For Money Because You Won The Lottery...

Buying a car on credit (Auto Fraud Week)

Posted on February 11, 2009
For starters, if you are going to buy a car on credit, the best way to start is to go to a credit union and ?pre-qualify? for a car loan. In other words, find out what you will be able to afford from someone who is not trying to sell you a car. When you [...

Thank goodness this COP is on the beat (AFFIL Week)

Posted on February 10, 2009
On January 29, the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) released its Special Report on Regulatory Reform (PDF link). The COP, established by Congress to oversee the Treasury?s bailout plan, is chaired by Harvard law professor and consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren...

Do you really need to buy a car? (Auto Fraud Week)

Posted on February 10, 2009
Before you buy a new or newer car, carefully consider your current car. Does buying a new or newer car now make sense, or should you just fix the old one? Generally, it is much cheaper to keep driving the old one. If you bought the car on credit and have had the car less than [...

Mandatory Binding Arbitration: The Worst Choose Your Own Adventure Ever

Posted on February 10, 2009
This is one of the best-executed blog posts, ever, about arbitration or anything else. Mandatory Binding Arbitration: The Worst Choose Your Own Adventure Ever | Consumerist Related posts:Mandatory binding arbitration sucks (say 81% of Americans)Comcast now allows customers to opt out of mandatory binding arbitrationT-Mobile early-termination fee lawsuit moves forward because mandatory binding arbitration clause unconscionable Related posts:Mandatory binding arbitration sucks (say 81% of Americans)Comcast now allows customers to opt out of mandatory binding arbitrationT-Mobile early-termination fee lawsuit moves forward because mandatory binding arbitration clause unconscionable

If You Knew Suze Like We Know Suze You Wouldn?t Listen to Her Advice

Posted on February 10, 2009
If You Knew Suze Like We Know Suze You Wouldn?t Listen to Her Advice | Slate Related posts:Could government-subsidized financial advice prevent the next recession?Attention Big Business: listen to our complaints and give us what we wantRegarding debt collection and the advice “just pay it” Related posts:Could government-subsidized financial advice prevent the next recession?Attention Big Business: listen to our complaints and give us what we wantRegarding debt collection and the advice “just pay it”

Moving forward: making financial regulation make sense (AFFIL week)

Posted on February 09, 2009
It is 2009 and the economy has tanked.  Subprime mortgage lending was the domino that started the whole mess a-falling.  Worst of all, there is no end in sight to the recession we?ve slid into. The good news is that, in the midst of the mess, there is a rare opportunity to take a look at [...

Carfax: know its limits (Auto Fraud Week)

Posted on February 09, 2009
Every time I hear a Cafax ad, it makes me want to scream. Carfax will not give you the ?real history? of a car. What a Carfax report gives you is the reported history. There can be a big difference. What Carfax does is collect information reported to the various states? motor vehicle departments...

5 credit card company tricks ? and how to thwart them

Posted on February 09, 2009
5 credit card company tricks ? and how to thwart them | Get Rich Slowly Related posts:Credit card tricks and traps to avoidCommon credit card tricks & traps10 Aggressive Tactics to Turn the Tables on Credit Card Companies Related posts:Credit card tricks and traps to avoidCommon credit card tricks & traps10 Aggressive Tactics to Turn the Tables on Credit Card Companies

Fed may win sweeping financial oversight

Posted on February 08, 2009
Fed may win sweeping financial oversight | MSNBC Related posts:Focus on Foreclosure claims a “WIN-WIN Solution”Fed to Issue New Mortgage Lending Regulations Next WeekHate your credit card? Tell the Fed Related posts:Focus on Foreclosure claims a “WIN-WIN Solution”Fed to Issue New Mortgage Lending Regulations Next WeekHate your credit card? Tell the Fed

This week: guest bloggers AFFIL and Nick Slade

Posted on February 08, 2009
We are looking forward to a great week! Sarah Byrnes and Jim Campen of AFFIL will be joining us to talk lending, and Nick Slade will be joining us to talk auto fraud. Look forward to lots of great posting from Sarah, Jim, and Nick, starting tomorrow! Related posts:Nick Slade joins the Caveat Emptor blogNext week: Sarah [...

Poisonous spiders

Posted on February 07, 2009
February 7, 2009 | Dilbert.com No related posts. No related posts.

Getting your credit score is getting more confusing

Posted on February 06, 2009
February brings two big changes to FICO credit scores. First, FICO credit scores are calculated differently as of yesterday. Second, as of February 14th, Experian will no longer give consumers access to their Experian credit score, although lenders will still have access to the number...

Next week: Sarah Byrnes and Jim Campen of AFFIL

Posted on February 06, 2009
Part-time bloggers Sarah Byrnes and Jim Campen of Americans for Fairness in Lending will be joining us as guest posters next week. Here is more on AFFIL, and you can read more about Sarah and Jim after the break. Jim Campen is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he is currently [...

Senate votes to re-inflate the housing bubble

Posted on February 05, 2009
The Senate has approved an addition to the economic stimulus package that would give a $15,000 tax credit to anyone who buys a home within two years of the bill’s passage. The credit only applies to a principal residence, and would have to be repaid if the buyer sells the home within two years...

U.S. passport information a piece of cake to steal

Posted on February 04, 2009
A hacker with $250 of easy-to-obtain equipment drove around San Francisco grabbing users’ personal information from passports and drivers’ licenses equipped with soon-to-be-mandatory radio-frequency identification (RFID) cihps. The government has been pushing for tagging most identification with RFID chips, claiming it would be impossible or unlikely for hackers to do just what Chris Paget did with [...

Debt collectors think consumers knowing their rights is ?ominous?

Posted on February 03, 2009
Yesterday, on Consumerist, I criticized an article in the Washington Post for sounding like it was written by debt collectors. Apparently, it was prompted by a dispatch from the Associated Press, which distributed “Six Tips for Dealing With Debt Collectors” on Friday...

Subscribe to Caveat Emptor

Posted on February 02, 2009
Don’t forget to subscribe to Caveat Emptor. You can have posts emailed to you, add our RSS feed to your reader, or follow us on Twitter.

Find recalled products

Posted on February 02, 2009
Parents.com has an easy-to search database of toys and other products that have been recalled as dangerous. You can search for specific toys, categories of toys, and find lists of important recalls for 2008. Toy and Product Recall Finder | Parents...

Take Back the Land helps homeless squat in vacant properties

Posted on January 31, 2009
Yesterday I linked to a video of Ohio congresswoman Marcy Kaptur telling her constituents to become squatters in their foreclosed homes. In Miami, activists at Take Back the Land are moving the homeless into empty, bank-owned properties and government buildings...

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