News

2011

December

01

• Foreclosure crisis isn’t even halfway over. A new analysis suggests that the tide of home foreclosures isn’t going to recede soon. The report from the Center for Responsible Lending, “Lost Ground, 2011,” finds that at least 2.7 million mortgages loaned from…

November

29

• Retirement rules of thumb don't always apply. You may have celebrated the new year in 2000 more worried about whether your computer would work than whether you'd have enough for retirement. After all, you'd been saving diligently, and returns from stocks and…

23

• Financial finger-pointing turns to regulators. In the whodunit of the financial crisis, Wall Street executives have pointed the blame at all kinds of parties — consumers who lied on their mortgage applications, investors who demanded access to risky mortgage bonds,…

22

• Whistleblowers say ignored, punished by lenders. Darcy Parmer ran into trouble soon after she started her job as a fraud analyst at Wells Fargo Bank. Her bosses, she later claimed, were upset that she was, well, finding fraud. Company officials, she…

17

• The smokers’ surcharge. More and more employers are demanding that workers who smoke, are overweight or have high cholesterol shoulder a greater share of their health care costs, a shift toward penalizing employees with unhealthy lifestyles rather than…

• California attorney general subpoenas Fannie, Freddie. Investigators with the California attorney general's office have subpoenaed information from mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as part of a wide-ranging inquiry into lending and foreclosure practices in the state. The subpoenas ask…

10

• Foreclosure backlogs could take decades to clear. Foreclosure sales are moving so slowly in half the states that at the current pace, it will take more than eight years on average to clear the 2.1 million homes in foreclosure or with seriously…

08

• Credit scores to add more consumer data. Many consumers applying for a mortgage are going to start sharing more personal information with lenders next year, like it or not. FICO scores, the industry standard for determining credit risk in mortgages backed by…

• Promises made and remade by firms in S.E.C. fraud cases. When Citigroup agreed last month to pay $285 million to settle civil charges that it had defrauded customers during the housing bubble, the Securities and Exchange Commission wrested a typical pledge from the company: Citigroup…

02

• Congress, consumer groups hail CFPB's first 100 days. Consumer Action joined Congress members Maloney and Frank, and other consumer and labor organizations for a press conference supporting the CFPB's initial efforts as the nation's only consumer financial regulator.

• 4 million borrowers eligible for foreclosure review. More than 4 million borrowers who have faced foreclosure since early 2009 will have the chance to have their cases reviewed for potential wrongdoing, federal regulators and some of the nation’s largest mortgage servicers announced…

October

28

• Rise in Medicare premium is lower than predicted. Monthly Medicare premiums for most beneficiaries will rise next year by $3.50, to $99.90, a much smaller increase than had been expected, the Obama administration said Thursday. Administration officials rejoiced at the modest increase, which…

21

• Wal-Mart cuts some health care benefits. After trying to mollify its critics in recent years by offering better health care benefits to its employees, Wal-Mart is substantially rolling back coverage for part-time workers and significantly raising premiums for many full-time staff.…

20

• 10 million could pay more Social Security tax. Seniors got good news on Wednesday: Their Social Security checks will go up 3.6% next year because of a cost-of-living increase. That also means an estimated 10 million high-income workers may be paying a bigger…

19

• Plan would refinance some underwater mortgages. A proposal to allow some creditworthy homeowners to refinance underwater mortgages has become part of settlement talks between government officials and major banks over botched foreclosure paperwork. California would be a major beneficiary of such…

• Attorneys general push for Cordray to lead consumer agency. The White House has enlisted a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general to help break a blockade by Senate Republicans of President Obama’s nominee to lead the controversial new federal consumer watchdog agency. The National…

14

• Eating disorders a new front in insurance fight. People with eating disorders like anorexia have opened up a new battleground in the insurance wars, testing the boundaries of laws mandating equivalent coverage for mental illnesses. Through claims and court cases, those with severe…

13

• Sharp rise in foreclosures as banks move in. More U.S. homes are entering the foreclosure process, but they're taking ever longer to get sold or repossessed by lenders. The number of U.S. homes that received a first-time default notice during the July to…

07

• Walgreen battle over drug prices will limit consumer choice. Darby Ziegler stopped by her local Walgreens drugstore in Huntington Beach the other day to refill a prescription. She got her meds — and some surprising news. Beginning Jan. 1, Walgreens will no longer fill…

• Conquering with complaints. Consumers today are more empowered than ever after they've been wronged by a company. That's because squeaky wheels have more and better ways to squeak. Effective complaining is a learned skill, whether it involves a…