The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Under Trump, enforcement of consumer financial laws drops sharply, especially in areas with the highest complaints

The number of publicly announced enforcement actions under the Trump administration at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is dropping sharply, according to a report by the Consumer Federation of America.

“Law enforcement activity at the CFPB has dropped precipitously under the Trump Administration’s leadership,” said Christopher Peterson, director of financial services for the federation and author of the report.

The bureau is charged with enforcing federal consumer financial law and bringing legal action against companies that violate that law. The bureau also has the authority to seek restitution for consumers and levy fines when it finds violations. The report finds that activity in both of these areas is on the decline – overall enforcement activity is down by 80 percent from the bureau’s peak in enforcement actions in 2015 and average relief to victims is down by 96 percent per case.

Best Presidents' Day sales this year

Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day sometimes fall within a few days of each other, so sales covering both holidays often are offered.

Presidents’ Day is a big sale holiday, and it’s a good time to stock up on home goods, electronics, and clothing.

DealNews offers the following list of what to expect from Presidents’ Day sales this year:

Happy Valentine’s Day

It’s the big day for sweethearts.

Fewer people are celebrating Valentine’s Day this year, 50 percent which is down from 55 percent last year.

Of those celebrating, 18 percent are giving the gift of jewelry; 34 percent, an evening out; 18 percent, clothing; 35 percent, flowers; 52 percent, candy; 15 percent, gift cards; 44 percent, greeting cards; and 25 percent, a gift of experience, such as an event or a trip to a spa.

As Valentine’s Day approaches and throughout the year, watch out for romance scams

Romance scams are different from other scams. Fraudsters prey on lonely people looking to connect with someone, and the scam can often take months to develop to the point where money changes hands. The emotional harm to the victim can be even more painful than the money lost. 

The use of online dating sites and apps has made romance fraud easier. Victims in the United States and Canada report losing nearly $1 billion over the last three years, and the Better Business Bureau estimates there may be more than a million victims in the U.S. Because most people don’t file complaints about romance scams with the BBB or law enforcement, this may a small number of those affected.

The BBB’s study, “Online Romance Scams: How Scammers Use Impersonation, Blackmail, and Trickery to Steal from Unsuspecting Daters,” looks at how romance scams work, who the scammers are, and what’s being done to combat them.

Facts and figures for Valentine's Day 2019

Source: WalletHub

Copyright 2019, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Federal consumer agency proposes gutting protections on payday loan debt traps

Photo: Aliman Senai

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wednesday that it’s proposing to roll back payday lending protections. The bureau is proposing to rescind the requirements that lenders make sure consumers can repay payday loans before issuing them.

While the bureau contends the changes will increase consumer access to credit, consumer groups say it's gutting consumer protections.

The bureau also proposed to push back the date lenders must comply with the rule from this August to November 2020.

The best and worst super bowl ads of 2019

For years, I’ve written about the Super Bowl ads because they get so much attention. Since so many of them have been violent, ageist, and sexist, I think it’s something that consumers need to know about.

However, this year, before I evaluate the ads, I need to comment on the NFL’s attempts to smooth over its botch response to black athletes kneeling when the national anthem is played to protest police brutality and racism.

Dr. Bernice A. King, the youngest child of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, came out on the field before Super Bowl LIII for the coin toss. Two civil rights leaders, Ambassador Andrew Young and U.S. Representative John Lewis, joined by her.

Sterling Jewelers agrees to $11 million settlement for signing consumers up for store credit cards without their consent

Photo credit: M.O. Stevens

Sterling Jewelers Inc. has agreed to pay $11 million after investigations by the New York Attorney General’s Office and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that Sterling signed consumers up for store credit cards without the consumers’ knowledge or consent. Sterling also enrolled consumers in a credit insurance product without consumers’ knowledge or consent and misrepresented the terms of the store cards. Under to the settlement, Sterling will pay $11 million in penalties.

“By tricking consumers into enrolling in store credits cards, Sterling Jewelers betrayed customers’ trust and violated the law,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “This settlement holds the company accountable for its misconduct and ensures that no more consumers are deceived.”

Sterling, doing business as Kay Jewelers, Jared The Galleria of Jewelry, and other brands, is based in Ohio and operates about 1,500 jewelry stores throughout the United States.

Consumers need more information about how real estate transactions work, consumer group says

Two-thirds of consumers believe that real estate agents are always or almost always required to represent the interests of the home buyer or seller with whom they are working, according a survey. Yet, many agents working with consumers represent the interests of the other party or the interests of neither party.

A report by the Consumer Federation of America incorporated its research of the literature on real estate agency, its mystery shopper survey of agents, and a survey by ORC International.

“Today, many home buyers and sellers do not know whether their agent is representing their interests, those of the other party, or those of neither,” said the report’s author, Stephen Brobeck, a federation senior fellow. “Given the huge expenditure of a home purchase and the conflict of financial interests between seller and buyer, it is important that consumers know who their real estate agent is actually representing.”

FDA should ban widely used, deadly gout medication, consumer group says

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration should immediately ban the widely used gout medication febuxostat because it poses unique, serious risks – including the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease – and provides no unique benefit, Dr. Michael Carome, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, said Friday. Public Citizen petitioned the FDA to ban the medication in June 2018.

The FDA convened advisory committees in response to a request from Takeda Pharmaceuticals America, maker of the brand name febuxostat product Uloric, for approval to update the medication’s labeling to include results of a recently completed clinical trial. The trial, which involved more than 6,000 gout patients, showed that patients taking febuxostat were significantly more likely to die from cardiovascular causes compared with those receiving the much older gout medication allopurinol.

Initial clinical trials testing febuxostat prior to FDA approval linked the medication to possible increased risks of serious cardiovascular outcomes, including heart attack, stroke, and death. The FDA rejected the medication twice due to these safety concerns before approving it in 2009 on the condition that the manufacturer conduct the now-completed large, post-market clinical trial to further evaluate the cardiovascular risks.