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Housing Feed

It’s National Consumer Protection Week

Things are busy, here in my corner of the USA. I’m behind in reporting on what’s happening for National Consumer Protection Week. A lot of my time has been taken up since the first of the year taking part in the Dean Ornish heart health program. It ends Wednesday. I’ll be reporting on its many benefits soon. Read more →


Agencies want to hear from you about bad experiences with tenant background checks

Most landlords and property managers use tenant background checks to decide whether to rent to someone. Two federal agencies want to hear about your experiences with background checks used to screen tenants. The CFPB and FTC have received thousands of complaints about the background checks. Read more →


Take a look at my newsletter for last-minute holiday money tips

It’s the holiday season and Christmas Day will be here soon. For more than a year now, I’ve been writing a newsletter offering readers 10 money tips every week. The response has been very positive. I scour a variety of websites to look for the latest information to help consumers make wise financial decisions.   Read more →


Recall of portable generator that amputated 24 fingers is reannounced

Among the biggest news from last week’s recalls is a portable generator that can amputate fingers. Generac and DR 6500 Watt and 8000 Watt portable generators have caused 37 injuries, 24 resulting in finger amputations and five in finger crushing, according to reports to Generac. Read more →


Get 10 money tips every week in my newsletter

I just wanted to write and let you know today about what's going on with my newsletter. I scour personal finance websites every week to find the best tips for people to use in their personal finance lives. I've been getting a lot of positive feedback on it. Recently, J. Money of Budgets Sexy took a look at my newsletter. Read more →


More than 30,000 residential elevators are being recalled after spinal injury to child

Residential Elevators Inc. is recalling about 31,000 home elevators. Young children can be trapped in the space between the exterior landing or hoistway door and the interior elevator car door or gate if there’s a hazardous gap. They can suffer serious injuries or death if caught in the gap when the elevator is called to another floor. Read more →


CFPB tells nursing homes they can’t try to collect from relatives and friends

Caregivers can’t be pursued over friends or family members’ debts from nursing home facilities. A report by the CFPB gives examples of how this illegal debt collection affects consumers: A daughter: The nursing home sent my name to the collection agency as if this was a debt accumulated by me. Read more →


Roomster sued by FTC and six states for tricking prospective renters with fake reviews and phony listings

Roomster and its owners are being sued by the Federal Trade Commission and six states alleging that the room and roommate finder platform posted reviews and other information that was false. The lawsuit announced Tuesday charges that Roomster posted fake positive reviews and made deceptive claims about its listings. Read more →


Opendoor to pay $62 million to settle charges it misled homeowners about what they’d make selling their home to the company

Opendoor promised consumers they’d make more money selling a home to them than they’d make on the open market. However, that wasn’t the reality, according to the FTC. Opendoor promoted itself as tech company that uses its pricing technology to offer more accurate offers and lower costs. Read more →


About 1.5 million electrical panels are being recalled by Schneider Electric due to burn and fire risk

Schneider Electric is recalling about 1.4 million Square D QO Plug-on-Neutral load centers, also known as breaker boxes and electrical panels, in the United States and 289,000 in Canada. The electric panels can overheat, posing thermal burn and fire risks. The firm has received one report of an incident of a loose wire. Read more →