News

2019

December

13

• PayPal sues the CFPB over its prepaid rule. PayPal Inc. sued the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, seeking to block a rule that requires it to make disclosures that allegedly confuse consumers. The “Prepaid Rule” requires that customers of PayPal and Venmo,

• Regulators propose overhaul of anti-redlining law. The proposal is another big win for the banking industry. Advocates say it could lead to fewer loans for low- and moderate-income borrowers.

• Are student loans the next mortgage crisis?. Mike Calhoun, who runs the nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending, sees many similarities between the 2007-2008 mortgage crisis and today’s student loans. The latest student loan debt statistics show that there are approximately 45

12

• Community Reinvestment Act cheat sheet. The OCC and FDIC’s sweeping proposal to reform how they implement the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) would maintain in part the physical component of assessment areas while introducing a new "50%-5%"

• University of Phoenix to cancel $141 million of student debt. The University of Phoenix and its parent company have agreed to pay $50 million in cash and cancel $141 million in student debt to settle allegations of deceptive advertisement brought by the Federal Trade Commission. The deal

• How to use up flexible spending account dollars before year's end. Some often-overlooked items that experts note are FSA-eligible: —Dental treatments including X-rays, teeth cleaning, fillings, crowns, braces, extractions, dentures and denture cleaning supplies and fluoride treatments to prevent tooth decay. —Out-of-pocket costs for

• More Americans are dying at home than in hospitals. Americans have long said that they prefer to die at home, not in an institutional setting.  Many terminally ill patients wind up in the care of family members who may be wholly unprepared for

• It’s not too late to fund a college 529 plan. Children stand to benefit from having a 529 account opened in their name, regardless of when it’s opened. There’s a common misconception about 529 plans, which is that the student is limited to

11

• This is what racism sounds like in the banking industry. A JPMorgan employee and a customer secretly recorded their conversations with racist bank employees.

• Six books to help you meet your financial resolutions in 2020. You are already promising yourself that 2020 is the year of financial freedom. But where do you start to help your New Year’s resolutions stick? When it comes to your personal finances, reading is

10

• Student loans a lot like the subprime mortgage debacle. Mike Calhoun is a man on a mission. He's flying around the country, warning state lawmakers and prosecutors, sounding the alarm at conferences, and with members of Congress. He did the same thing back

• America's parents want paid family leave and affordable child care. Why can't they get it?. With so many women in Congress, the nation looked closer than ever to affordable child care and paid family leave. So far, nothing. We found out why.

09

• How to save money for retirement. While most workers are responsible for their own retirement savings these days, high schools don’t have required classes on 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts (I.R.A.s). And colleges usually don

• PG&E reaches $13.5 billion settlement with CA wildfire victims. Pacific Gas & Electric on Friday announced it had reached a multibillion-dollar settlement with victims of wildfires that killed dozens of people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes across Northern California.

06

• Signing up for an H.S.A.? First know how you’ll use the money. Do you intend to use a health savings account for current medical expenses or to save the money and invest it for future costs, perhaps in retirement — as if it were a 401(k) for

• Bank regulators urge 'responsible use' of alternative lending data. Lenders and regulators are looking at how data beyond a basic credit score could be used to improve underwriting practices, for example by analyzing bank accounts, utility bills, level of education and employer information.

• House Republicans to counter with their own drug pricing bill. Like the latest version of a Senate proposal from Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), this House Republican measure will include a first-ever cap on out-of-pocket costs for seniors on Medicare, along with other

05

• Bipartisan bill aims to reinstate mailed Social Security earnings statements (Document is an important retirement planning tool; many have lost access to the annual statement). Consumer Action and allies herald new bipartisan legislation that would require that the Social Security Statement of Earnings be mailed annually to individuals who have not set up an online Social Security account.

• Nearly 700,000 SNAP recipients could lose benefit. The Trump administration is tightening work requirements for some food stamp recipients, a change that is expected to eliminate Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for 688,000 adults. The new rule makes it more difficult for states

• My adult child built a good credit score in 3 months. If you plan it right, you can help your children build good credit profiles just in time to qualify for a loan or lease starting out as young adults without needing a co-signer.