News & Headlines

• August 31, 2010 Be skeptical of health-care credit cards
• August 31, 2010 Time to refinance? Rates hit record lows
• August 31, 2010 Thinking of raiding your 401(k)? Don't
• August 31, 2010 Survey: Mortgage closing costs 37% higher
• August 30, 2010 Microloan is big help for small businesses

Publications

CA News & Special Reports

2009 Credit Card Survey Consumer Action's 2009 Credit Card Survey contains information on credit card rates, fees, terms and industry practices for 39 cards from 22 issuers. ( Wednesday, August 12, 2009 )

On Our Radar

• April 23, 2010 Can financial education head off early conomic woes? A commentary in the Huffington Post delves into the problem of twentysomethings who are struggling to make financial ends meet and how financial education can play a role in heading off disaster earlier.
• August 13, 2009 Prepaid cards: New report finds fees, gotchas A new report finds that upon close examination, prepaid debit cards are laden with numerous types of fees and other gotchas.
• February 05, 2009 FDIC study: Serving the unbanked and underbanked In the first national survey of banks' efforts to serve unbanked and underbanked individuals and families in their market areas, the FDIC found that improvement may be possible in certain areas.
• January 30, 2009 Reasons you can't get your credit report fixed A noted national consumer law organization releases a report documenting the abysmal quality of the credit report dispute system provided for by law to protect consumers from errors in their credit reports.
• December 03, 2008 Old debt gets new rates: Citigroup raises credit card rates An article by Tim Westrich of the Center for American Progress discusses Citigroup's announcement that it would raise its credit card interest rates on 20 percent of its customers, just weeks after accepting $25 billion from the federal government.

Coalition

• November 18, 2009 Protect debt-strapped consumers from unscrupulous industry practices Consumer Action filed joint comments, along with 18 other consumer organizations, with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) supporting amendments to the Telemarketing Sales Rule that would protect debt-strapped consumers from unscrupulous practices by companies that offer to arrange payment plans with their creditors, get their interest rates or fees reduced, or settle their debts for pennies on the dollar.
• April 17, 2009 Shareholders target predatory credit card practices Consumer Action and the Center for Responsible Lending joined socially responsible MMA Praxis Mutual Funds and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility to discuss anti-consumer credit card practices that could have a negative impact on shareholders of major card issuers, and the larger economy.
• March 31, 2009 "Opt-in" fundamental to consumer overdraft protection The Federal Reserve's move to curb abuses in bank overdraft practices prompted Consumer Action and its coalition partners to write a letter demanding that the Fed ask institutions to first obtain consumer "opt-in" or agreement before imposing any fees for the service.
• March 18, 2009 Wolf in sheep's clothing: payday lending bill harms consumers In a letter to the House Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee, Consumer Action joined its coalition members in strongly opposing H.R. 1214, which would condone predatory terms in payday loan products.
• February 27, 2009 36% 'FAIR' rate cap bill protects consumers from lending abuses Consumer Action, along with a diverse range of other organizations, sent a letter to Senator Richard Durbin praising S. 500, a bill he introduced that would cap interest rates for consumer credit at 36% annually.

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