Headline News Archive

2012

January

10

• 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…

• 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…

• 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…

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…

• 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…

• 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…

• 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…

03

• BofA severing some small-business credit lines. Bank of America Corp. under pressure to raise capital and cut risks, is severing lines of credit to some small-business owners who have used them…

• Airfare ads must include taxes, fees. Fly from Albuquerque to Tucson on Southwest Airlines for $59. Jet from Asheville, N.C., to Orlando, Fla., on Allegiant Air for $49. Fly from Boston…

• Better not to claim Social Security benefits early. The U.S. economy has made modest gains recently. Consumer confidence rose during the fall, and the stock market has stabilized. Meanwhile, employment appears poised to…

• FTC hard-pressed to secure refunds for victims. The Federal Trade Commission sent refund checks last month to 75,000 people under a settlement with a Texas firm that allegedly charged them for an…

01

• Consumer protection made big gains in 2011. The last year was a remarkable one for consumer protection. Among the wins: A new watchdog agency opened for business, regulators cracked down on a…

2011

December

29

• What to do with your old cellphones, cameras and computers. If this holiday season was all about upgrading for you -- upgrading to a better computer, phone or camera -- then it's time to think…

• Cloud storage sites by Amazon, others compared. If you've ever had your laptop stolen, watched your toddler baptize your PC with Pepsi, or had your MacBook come to a cold, dead stop,…

• Incandescent light bulb phaseout begins Jan. 1. The nation's light bulbs begin facing new efficiency and labeling standards starting Jan. 1, but don't expect old-fashioned incandescents to suddenly disappear from store shelves.…

• 2011: when the device in your pocket became the center of your world. As far as years in technology go, 2011 was one for the record books. It wasn’t just about big battles, such as Apple vs. Samsung,…

27

• Time Warner Cable's price going up again. Happy holidays. Your cable rates are going up. Again. In its most Grinch-like fashion, Time Warner Cable, the dominant cable company in Southern California, is…

• A plan for 2012 you’ll actually follow. For 2012, I have a challenge for you: make financial decisions on purpose. Too much of what we do is based on habits and assumptions…

• Airfares with less fine print. Advertisements that make airfares seem enticingly low will soon lose that asterisk pointing to a dense paragraph of additional taxes and fees that make a…

• Consumer takes legal fight away from lawyers. Heather Peters is an angry consumer who knows she has little chance of winning a war with Honda Motor Co. and its army of high-priced…

26

• Hacking victims targeted after speaking to media. Victims of a data breach at the security analysis firm Stratfor apparently are being targeted a second time after speaking out about the hacking. Stratfor…

24

• Wage floor is increasing in 8 states in new year. Eight states will ring in the New Year with a higher minimum wage, under state laws that require wage floors to keep apace with inflation.…

23

• Best and worst secured credit cards for 2012. Millions of Americans have suffered financially as a result of the recent credit crunch, and many of them have been left with damaged credit reports.…

22

• Victims in Countrywide mortgage case could get thousands. Consumers who were victims of mortgage discrimination could get anywhere from $500 to thousands of dollars each as a result of a settlement announced Wednesday…

• How people shopped online this holiday season. Little time remains for online shoppers to have gifts delivered in time for Christmas, and sales numbers for online shopping this season are arriving. The…