News

2012

January

15

• How entrepreneurs can cut costs of deadbeat clients. Cathy Alinovi, a veterinarian and owner of Hoofstock Vet Service in rural Pine Village, Ind., advises her clients to tend their animals' health needs as soon as the problem arises. When it comes to collecting…

13

• Credit score zealots pursue fool’s errand over 800. eff Rose, a 33-year-old financial planner, is trying to improve his credit score even though it’s 780, which is 69 points above the median score. Rose, who lives in Carbondale, Illinois, said he opened up…

• California imposes energy-efficiency standards on battery chargers. California's cellphones, tablet computers, power tools and hundreds of other portable electronic devices will be required to have energy-stingy battery chargers beginning next year. The California Energy Commission on a 3-0 vote Thursday approved first-in-the-nation…

• Consumer bureau chief looks into Buy Here Pay Here auto dealers. The new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking into the practices of Buy Here Pay Here auto dealers and the rapid growth of the industry. Buy Here Pay Here dealers often target…

• Foreclosure reviews to take longer than expected. Reviews of hundreds of thousands of foreclosure cases ordered by regulators last year will take months longer to complete than first expected, according to documents filed with federal banking regulators. The delays could postpone compensation…

• Few options available to help pay off private student loans. Last October, President Obama announced a broad initiative to provide relief for college graduates struggling to repay student loans. In a speech at the University of Colorado in Denver, Obama said the plan will lower…

12

• Foreclosures expected to rise, pushing home prices lower. California and other states are likely to see an enormous wave of long-delayed foreclosure action in the coming year as banks deal more aggressively with 3.5 million seriously delinquent mortgages. And experts said that dealing…

• 'Hactivists' decried as new breed of censor. Global affairs website Stratfor relaunched Wednesday, three weeks after hacktivists put it in the dark. The Statfor caper serves notice about a troublesome new strain of unpredictable censorship arising on the Internet, Stratfor CEO George…

• Toxic metal jewelry removed from stores. More than a dozen of the most popular retailers have stopped selling jewelry that contains more than trace levels of a toxic metal called cadmium, accepting a new standard that consumer advocates say is tougher…

10

• Suze Orman’s new prepaid card makes questionable claims. Renowned financial advisor and author Suze Orman is the latest in a long line of celebrities to release a branded prepaid debit card. The “Approved Card” from Suze Orman aims to be different from all…

• Free tax prep out of Walmart. Ugh, taxes again? Yeah, unfortunately it’s time the tax talks start happening. For those who want to get the tax preparation process out of the way should consider heading to the closest Walmart for some…

• Obama needs to find his backbone on healthcare reform. It's wrong to call the president of the United States a weenie. So I'll just say instead that perhaps President Obama could show a little more spine when it comes to healthcare reform. Sure, he…

• Bill would regulate Buy Here Pay Here used-car lots. Used-car dealers known as Buy Here Pay Here lots would be regulated by the state as lenders under new legislation aimed at curbing what some critics say are abusive and predatory lending practices. The bill,…

• E-payments rapidly phasing out paper checks. Even in this fast-paced, high-tech electronic age, some of us prefer letters to e-mails, phone calls to texts, and one-on-one conversations — ideally, over a cup of tea — to Skype. Your Money Increasingly, though,…

• Some doctors charge your credit card number upfront. After a year abroad, my daughter came home last summer, unusually fatigued and with more severe asthma symptoms than when she left. After a thorough checkup, her new doctor, a family practice physician, referred us…

05

• Harder for Americans to rise from lower rungs. Benjamin Franklin did it. Henry Ford did it. And American life is built on the faith that others can do it, too: rise from humble origins to economic heights. “Movin’ on up,” George Jefferson-style, is…

• Home repairs: Knowing when you can do it yourself. In times of economic hardship, "do-it-yourself" is a tempting mantra for many homeowners with dripping faucets, running toilets, leaky windows or sticky locks. The savings can add up when you don't have to call a…

• Protect your money: How to research a broker. Q: How can one research the reputation of a brokerage firm using online tools? Please use Edward Jones as an example. A: Gone are the days investors would just get a suggestion for an brokerage…

• Obama appoints Cordray to head consumer watchdog bureau. In a bold act of political defiance, President Obama installed Richard Cordray as head of a new consumer watchdog agency Wednesday, bypassing Republican opposition in the Senate that derailed his nomination last month. Obama cast…

04

• Consumer Action applauds President Obama for CFPB recess appointment. Consumer Action is proud to see President Obama stand up to an obstructionist Senate today and appoint former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray director of the CFPB while the Senate is in recess. "With a…