Consumer Law

Why the CARD Act is Good for Consumers

Posted on August 24, 2010
The market works well when everyone understands what they are buying and selling. But credit cards are complicated financial products. Few consumers can make an intelligent comparison of one card to another. That is a big part of why credit card companies have gotten away with charging ridiculous fees, double-cycle billing, and other transgressions over [...

Learn to Be a Cheapskate

Posted on August 23, 2010
Saving money is like losing weight: there’s really no secret. You just consume less, and a little exercise doesn’t hurt. When it comes to saving, exercise means self control, though it is just as hard to stick to. In The Cheapskate Next Door, Jeff Yeager talks about being “the Ultimate Cheapskate,” and his search for [...

Free Money Management Spreadsheet

Posted on August 20, 2010
If you aren’t keen on giving up your privacy in exchange for personal finance software, and you don’t want to pay for software, spreadsheet template builder Vertex42 has a free money management spreadsheet template that does basically the same thing...

Elizabeth Warren for Sheriff (of the CFPB)

Posted on August 20, 2010
Just sayin’. Related posts:More on how arbitration screws consumers from Elizabeth WarrenMore on how arbitration screws consumers from Elizabeth Warren. Have... Quick thoughts – superstars Barack Obama and Elizabeth Warren collide, plus new Democratic hypocrisyAlright, maybe Elizabeth Warren isn?t a superstar to everyone...

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When Free Credit Reports, Aren?t

Posted on August 18, 2010
18 “free” credit report websites have been warned by the FTC to shape up, or they will be fined $3,500 per violation. Most require people to sign up for a paid service in order to get a “free” credit score or credit reports. FreeCreditScore...

Consumers Tend to Buy What They Touch

Posted on August 16, 2010
If you want to save money, keep your hands to yourself. If you touch something, you are more likely to buy it. That’s why Best Buy lets you play with practically everything in the store. And why clothing stores put fuzzy things right at waist level so you can reach them easily...

Repairing a Bad Credit Score is Getting Easier

Posted on August 13, 2010
To repair your credit score in the past, you had to do a lot of guesswork. But because of the recent financial reform bill, lenders who refuse to loan you money will have to tell you why. They will also have to give you a copy of the credit score they used to decide to [...

Will the CFPB Make a Difference?

Posted on August 11, 2010
The “sweeping financial reform bill” recently enacted created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with the authority to crack down on consumer abuses in connection with things like payday loans, credit cards, and mortgages. It will also have the authority to ban some particularly egregious practices entirely...

Big Banks Targeting Consumers for Overdraft Fees

Posted on August 10, 2010
Hot on the heels of yesterday’s post about how big banks are digging their own graves with their incessant nickel-and-diming and bad service comes this bank news: “Regulation E offers aggressive bank marketers opportunities to maintain or even increase revenues from their overdraft programs...

Big Banks May Be Doomed

Posted on August 09, 2010
Big banks “routinely treat their customers like shit, offer terrible services, and use inscrutable fee schedules to make billions of dollars per year from worthless fees alone,” according to Ramit Sethi. He’s right, of course. And big banks are gearing up new fees to make it impossible to bank without piling up absurd fees...

Barney Frank on the Colbert Report

Posted on August 09, 2010
“Banks are consumers. They consume our life savings when we don’t read the fine print.” The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Colleges Deceive Applicants

Posted on August 05, 2010
Applying to colleges is a stressful experience for most people. Where will you get in? How much will it cost and how will you pay for it? Unfortunately, according to a new report, some colleges are misleading students about their programs and even encouraging students to lie on their financial aid applications...

How to Avoid Ending Up in Jail for Debt

Posted on August 04, 2010
Getting served with a debt collection lawsuit is bad enough without the risk of jail time. But ignoring a lawsuit could lead to a bench warrant—and possibly a short jail visit—in some circumstances. Make sure it does not happen to you. When not to worry about jail You do not need to worry about landing [...

California Consumer Lawyer Mark Anderson Joins the Caveat Emptor Directory

Posted on August 02, 2010
Mark Anderson is a consumer rights lawyer and blogger in California, and now a member of the Caveat Emptor lawyer directory. Mark has handled thousands of lemon law cases, as well as cases involving the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and class actions...

Debt Collectors Use Social Media to Find Debtors

Posted on July 28, 2010
Debt collectors are pretty good about tracking people down and now they are turning to social media to find people that have escaped their grasp. What information have you posted about yourself online? Do you have a Facebook account? If you have created a Facebook account, it may not be difficult to track you down...

Mandatory Binding Arbitration Will Go Under the CFPB?s Microscope

Posted on July 26, 2010
It is a bit premature to start ringing the death knell for mandatory binding arbitration, but the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will have the authority to “prohibit or impose conditions” on arbitration clauses in financial services contracts...

Confessions of Former Debt Collectors

Posted on July 20, 2010
CNN Money’s gallery, “Confessions of Former Debt Collectors,” offers a glimpse of the humans on the other end of collection calls. All talk about bullying debtors. Some regret it: I realized that if someone owes one person money, they owe a lot more people money and they really aren’t deserving of such harsh treatment...

Debt Collection News Roundup, Week of June 12th, 2010

Posted on July 16, 2010
This week began with a bang, in the form of the Federal Trade Commission’s report that consumer complaints about debt collection abuses have tripled. The FTC also released a report, Repairing A Broken System: Protecting Consumers in Debt Collection Litigation and Arbitration in which it criticized the one-two punch of debt collection and mandatory binding [...

Friedman & Wexler Closing After Not Paying Bills?

Posted on July 15, 2010
Friedman & Wexler, a widely known Chicago law firm that specializes in debt collection, has apparently shut down after failing to pay its own bills. According to the article, the law firm was fighting numerous suits that alleged the firm had withheld funds from former clients...

Al Franken: ?Debt Collection Firms Abuse Minnesotans To Reap Profits?

Posted on July 15, 2010
Minnesota Senator Al Franken issued a press release today demanding that the Federal Trade Commission take action to reign in illegal debt collection activity. Here is the press release: Franken Calls For Action Against Debt Collection Practices Debt Collection Firms Abuse Minnesotans To Reap Profits WASHINGTON, D...

Automated Debt Collection Lawsuits Overwhelm Courts

Posted on July 14, 2010
At least one debt collection law firm, Cohen & Slamowitz, files about 80,000 lawsuits per year. That is an average of over 300 lawsuits per day. Wow. It is not humanly possible for a lawyer to actually examine each lawsuit, make sure it has merit and there is evidence to support it, and sign off [...

Mandatory Binding Arbitration Makes Debt Collection Worse

Posted on July 13, 2010
If you take a bad thing—debt collection—and subtract fairness, it gets worse. The FTC sounded off on the problems with combining debt collection and forced arbitration. In fact, the FTC recommending banning arbitration on the mandatory binding arbitration of debt collection disputes: Such a ban should remain in place until the arbitration process can be [...

Consumer Complaints About Debt Collectors Continue to Rise

Posted on July 13, 2010
In a completely unsurprising development, the Federal Trade Commission reports that consumer complaints about debt collection are on the rise. Just as they have been for years. Consumerist points out some of the more salient points from the FTC news, such as a debt collector who harassed a 54-year-old woman as well as a parade [...

More of the Rich Are Defaulting on Mortgages

Posted on July 09, 2010
Apparently, the rich are a lot more likely to walk away from a mortgage. Whether it is their residence, a second home or a house bought as an investment, the rich have stopped paying the mortgage at a rate that greatly exceeds the rest of the population...

Wells Fargo?s Freezing of Bank Accounts After Bankruptcy Found Illegal

Posted on July 06, 2010
Apparently, Wells Fargo has a national policy of freezing its customers’ accounts as soon as they file bankruptcy. This policy apparently has something to do with what Wells Fargo thinks are its obligations to the Bankruptcy Estate. Of course, many debtors will have exempt funds in their accounts, but Wells Fargo stubbornly refuses to give [...

North Carolina Bankruptcy Lawyer Terry Duncan Joins the Caveat Emptor Directory

Posted on July 05, 2010
Terry Duncan is a bankruptcy lawyer in Charlotte and Greensboro, North Carolina, who handles bankruptcies under Chapters 7 and 13 with his son, Damon Duncan, and his daughter-in-law, Melissa Duncan. Yep, it’s a family firm, and here they are introducing themselves: To contact Terry, visit his Minnesota bankruptcy attorney profile...

Arbitrating Arbitration

Posted on July 03, 2010
Arbitration is unfair to consumers. This is manifestly obvious to nearly everyone but the arbitration industry and the U.S. Supreme Court. In Rent-A-Center v. Jackson, The U.S. Supreme Court just ruled that arbitrators have the right to decide whether arbitration is fair or not...

State of Minnesota Law on Joint Accounts Clarified, but Still in Doubt

Posted on July 03, 2010
About a year and a half ago, I wrote about Judge Frank’s decision that Minnesotans may sue when a debt collector garnishes funds in a joint bank account. After a lot more litigation, pieces of that question were certified to the Minnesota Supreme Court...

Minnesota Bankruptcy Lawyer Brad Perri Joins the Caveat Emptor Directory

Posted on July 02, 2010
Brad Perri, a former contributor to Caveat Emptor, has just joined our bankruptcy lawyer directory for Minnesota. Brad’s posts on bankruptcy reflect his approach to representing bankruptcy clients: he is compassionate, he gives clients his personal attention, and he is a zealous bankruptcy advocate...

The Caveat Emptor Consumer & Bankruptcy Lawyer Directory

Posted on July 02, 2010
We are constantly working on making Caveat Emptor a better place for consumers to find information about their rights and options. Since talking to a lawyer as soon as possible is usually the most important part of resolving any consumer problem, we wanted to make it easier by at least one click...

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