Posts Tagged With ‘ Services ’

With climate change creating more storms and natural disasters, insurance companies are facing unprecedented claims. They’re reacting with raising prices and refusing to offer coverage in some areas of high storm activities. Policyholders are entitled to receive their claims payments under the terms of their insurance policies, and insurers shouldn’t delay or mistreat consumers. Many victims of Hurricane Idalia will be underinsured and uninsured for flood damage. There will be big fights over whether the damage was caused by wind, covered in a home policy, versus flooding, excluded in... Continue Reading

Big storms across the country brought on by climate change are causing havoc. You may have received a notice from your insurer dropping your home insurance policy. Or, unexpected surges in the cost of your coverage can put a strain on your budget especially in these days of inflation. This is stressful as not having the right amount and type of insurance can make your home more difficult to sell. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau offers the following suggestions for homeowners facing new decisions about insurance, often with limited time to consider complicated options. Choosing insurance Your... Continue Reading

When searching for a place to live and roommates, it’s important to get accurate information. And reviews from platforms that can help you in your search need to be honest and trustworthy. But according to the Federal Trade Commission and six states suing Roomster and its owners, the room and roommate finder platform posted reviews and other information that wasn’t accurate. The lawsuit A lawsuit filed in 2022 alleges Roomster posted fake positive reviews and made deceptive claims about its listings being real, available, and verified – to convince people to use its platform. The FTC and... Continue Reading

If someone tells you that you need to pay to sign up for government student loan debt relief program, run away as fast as you can. Scammers want to hook you and fill their pockets with your money, while their “advice” may make your student loan problems worse. The Federal Trade Commission offers the following tips for how to spot scam companies that charge illegal upfront fees for so-called help with your student loans: The first thing is to be informed. Be aware you don’t have to pay for help managing your student loans. If someone tries to charge you up front, before they’ve done anything,... Continue Reading

Does it matter that there are too many residential real estate agents? Yes, says a consumer group. More than 1.5 million residential agents, including brokers, compete for home sales usually totaling 5 to 6 million annually. The plethora of real estate agents comes with costs, according to a study by the Consumer Federation of America, that include: Economic inefficiencies including an excessive amount of time spent by agents finding clients. Relatively low incomes of many full-time agents. Frustration by these agents and by many consumers who deal with inexperienced agents. Reinforcement of... Continue Reading

It’s frustrating to receive dozens, even hundreds of emails every day. But what if there’s no “unsubscribe” link and the emails won’t stop? People who set up “Free Membership” accounts with Experian to manage access to their Experian credit report information online had that experience. The accounts let people “freeze” their credit to make it difficult for identity thieves to open new accounts in their name and “unfreeze” their credit to apply for a mortgage or other new credit. But, the Federal Trade Commission said, the free accounts came with an extra that many people... Continue Reading

USASF Servicing is being charged with illegal practices that harmed consumers with auto loans including disabling borrowers’ vehicles, improperly repossessing vehicles, double-billing borrowers for insurance premiums, and failing to return millions of dollars in refunds, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday . With its lawsuit, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking to return money to consumers, impose civil penalties, and stop any future violations. “The CFPB is suing USASF for a range of misconduct, including illegally activating devices that prevented borrowers from starting... Continue Reading

American companies are using unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices as they sells many consumer financial products, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in a new report on what it found as it reviews business practices at financial institutions. For example, auto lenders have originated loan balances above the real value of the car being purchased and engaged in illegal collection practices while servicing these loans. The report covers findings from CFPB examinations completed from July 2022 to March 2023. “Today’s report furthers our efforts to highlight conduct that violates... Continue Reading

To help consumers, the Biden administration is cracking down on junk fees, price-fixing and price gouging on food, and mergers. President Joe Biden announced the actions Wednesday the day before the fifth meeting of White House Competition Council, which he appointed in 2021. The council is made up of 10 cabinet members and the heads of seven independent agencies. “It’s about basic fairness,” Biden said when he addressed cabinet members and other council members. “Folks are tired of being played for suckers.” The U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission will be publishing... Continue Reading

More than 804,000 borrowers will have $39 billion in federal student loans discharged in the coming weeks, the U.S. Department of Education announced Friday. The discharges are fixes to ensure borrowers have an accurate count of monthly payments that qualify toward forgiveness under income-driven repayment plans. These fixes are part of the department’s actions to address failures in the administration of the federal student loan program in which payments made under IDR plans weren’t accounted for. Borrowers are eligible for forgiveness if they’ve had either 20 or 25 years of qualifying... Continue Reading