News & Headlines

• February 21, 2013 New survey shows consumers benefit from CARD Act Consumer Action’s hotline sees nosedive in consumer credit card complaints Consumer Action conducted an online survey of 706 credit cardholders to learn what impact the CARD Act of 2009 has had on credit card users.
• November 09, 2012 Election results strengthen consumer protection
• November 02, 2012 Banks offer loans, credit limit hikes to Sandy victims
• September 18, 2012 After job loss leads to debt, rebuild your credit score
• September 13, 2012 Should you use an IRA to pay off debt?

Publications

CA News & Special Reports

2012 Fall Issue: Credit Card Comparison Site Survey Consumer Action looked at 54 sites to determine which ones offer the most useful and complete information to credit card shoppers. To narrow the list, we evaluated them using a checklist of key elements—and 13 met all or most of our criteria. Three sites met… ( Wednesday, October 31, 2012 )

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

• May 20, 2011 Real debt help Consumer groups provide solid advice on debt relief Consumer Action partnered with other national consumer groups to provide tips on how to avoid debt relief scams and bogus mortgage relief assistance. The Get Real Debt Help fact sheet explains debt relief danger signs, rules on upfront fees, and where to turn for real debt help. (Available in Spanish and English).
• April 14, 2011 Old exceptions to risk-based pricing rule must be removed before Dodd-Frank can work Consumer Action signed onto comments that point out problems with provisions proposed by the Federal Reserve and the FTC that would fail to remove currently-existing exceptions to the risk-based pricing rule (if the creditor makes a credit scoring disclosure) in the Dodd-Frank bill.
• 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.

BookNotes