Legislation

Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Study: CFPB complaints shattered records in 2020, exposing how the COVID-19 pandemic battered consumer finances

Confirmation of President Biden’s nominee Rohit Chopra will pivot agency back to only job: protecting consumers

WASHINGTON -- Consumer complaints about problems with financial companies such as banks, credit bureaus and debt collectors rose by more than 50 percent in 2020 and set new records for each month of the year, according to a new report from the U.S. PIRG Education Fund. The report, Consumers In Peril, which analyzed complaints received by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), was released Monday to kick off National Consumer Protection Week.

[https://uspirg.
Read more . . .

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Thursday, April 23, 2020

What Consumers Need to Know About New Credit Reporting Protections re: Mortgage Payments

CARES Act § 4021 provides less than minimal protections regarding credit reporting. From January 31, 2020 until 120 days after the end of the national state of emergency, if a creditor has made an accommodation (such as a forbearance or workout) for a consumer pursuant to the state of emergency, the creditor shall report that account with the same status as prior to the accommodation to a consumer reporting agency, i.e., if an account was current it shall continue to be reported as current, while a delinquent account shall continue be reported as delinquent. The exceptions are (1) the provision does not apply to charged-off accounts and (2) if the account was delinquent and the consumer manages to bring the account current during the period of accommodation, the account shall be reported as current.
Read more . . .

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Monday, April 6, 2020

Major Consumer Protections Announced in Response to COVID-19 UPDATED WITH CARES ACT

https://library.nclc.org/major-consumer-protections-announced-response-covid-19

This article, which will be updated as developments warrant, lists actions Congress, governors, federal and state agencies, and businesses are taking to protect consumers in light of the COVID-19 epidemic.
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Thursday, April 2, 2020

Want to get your Coronavirus relief check? Scammers do too.

https://www.consumer.
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Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Major Consumer Protections Announced in Response to COVID-19

Fair Credit Reporting

What Can You Do With Your Gym Membership If the State Shuts Down Facilities in COVID-19 Emergency Order?

I spoke with Newsweek yesterday about how the pandemic is affecting consumers with gym memberships. We primarily help consumers with credit report errors. Unscrupulous gyms that continue to charge consumers -- even though the gym has been ordered closed -- may need to answer for their reporting inaccurate information to the credit bureaus.

Here's one section from the article:

Attorney Adam Singer, whose firm advocates on behalf of consumers, said he believes "emphatically" that gyms should not be able to shut down and continue to charge consumers, though they may "probably try to do it anyway.
Read more . . .

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Thursday, October 31, 2019

Reed & Van Hollen Introduce the Consumer Credit Control Act

Reed & Van Hollen Introduce the Consumer Credit Control Act

WASHINGTON, DC – In an effort to empower consumers and put Americans in control of their personal information and credit reports, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) today introduced the Consumer Credit Control Act.
Read more . . .

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Thursday, October 10, 2019

U.S. House Votes to End Forced Arbitration in Corporate Contracts

FAIR Act would restore consumers’ and workers’ right to seek justice in court when harmed. A Senate vote is next.

How Much Is Your Data Worth to Facebook and Google? A New Senate Bill Aims to Find Out

The credit bureaus should be included.

http://fortune.com/2019/06/24/facebook-google-data-privacy-dashboard-act/

The Designing Accounting Safeguards to Help Broaden Oversight And Regulations on Data (DASHBOARD) Act, which was introduced on Monday, takes aim at companies that have more than 100 million monthly active users. The bill would pull back at least part of the curtain on the data collection practices of technology giants Facebook and Google—and potentially Twitter and Read more . . .

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Tuesday, June 11, 2019