The True Lender Rule, which questions the power of state governments to regulate interest rate limits, will unleash predatory lending in 50 states. The rule, approved by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, would protect predatory, nonbank lenders from state enforcement. Read more →
T-Mobile will pay $200 million to resolve an investigation of Sprint’s compliance with the Federal Communications Commission’s rules for the Lifeline program for low-income consumers. The payment is the largest settlement the FCC has ever levied. Read more →
The Federal Trade Commission and federal and state law enforcement partners have brought action in 16 states against debt collectors engaged in abusive debt collection practices. In FTC two cases announced Tuesday, the companies made robocalls to individuals, telling them that they’d been sued, or soon would be, if they didn’t pay. Read more →
State insurance commissioners are failing to prevent windfall auto insurer profits as auto claims dropped when driving and auto crashes declined due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Consumer Federation of America and the Center for Economic Justice said. Read more →
Imagine this: a person goes through the trouble of hiring an attorney, making an estate plan, and keeping the plan accessible to their loved ones in an emergency. Then, their loved ones discover a glitch. Read more →
If I have learned anything in more than 15 years as an estate planning attorney, it’s that there’s really no such thing as a “normal family.” That’s because every family is beautiful, whether your “family” is your children and grandchildren, beloved nieces and nephews, or a network of close friends. Read more →
An estate plan is meant to make life easier for the people you love. You make it for yourself – so you maintain control over your medical decisions and the way your assets are distributed, to protect the legacy you’ve built – but really, it’s about the people you love. Read more →
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a consent order Friday against Sovereign Lending Group Inc., a mortgage lender in about 44 states and the District of Columbia. Sovereign offers mortgage loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Read more →
Problems with car sales and repairs and home improvement and construction once again topped the list of complaints reported to state and local consumer agencies across the country, according to an annual survey by the Consumer Federation of America. The survey asked about the most common, fastest-growing, and worst complaints agencies received in 2019. Read more →
A report comparing information about individual real estate agents provided by widely used online information sources – Zillow, Realtor.com, HomeLight, Yelp, Facebook, and the websites of the agents themselves – concludes that Zillow agent profiles are the most useful source of information. Read more →