The commissioner who continually fought for consumers leaves the PSC. Please click here for the full story.
Steve Gaw leaves the PSC
Tuesday, September 18th, 2007Missouri Attorney General against predatory lending
Tuesday, September 18th, 2007The following article appeared in the Kansas City Star.
AS I SEE IT: Predatory lending is a plague
By JAY NIXON
I commend Kansas City’s efforts to protect its citizens from predatory lenders. And I disagree with the payday loan industry’s claim (As I See It, 8/30/07) that it is “helping” Missouri consumers.
By every measure, the payday loan industry is thriving at the expense of cash-strapped Missourians who have been caught in their debt trap.
Consider these facts:
•Missouri law allows the payday loan industry to charge up to 1,950 percent APR.
•There were $2.87 million in payday loans issued in Missouri in the one-year period that ended last Sept. 30, at an average APR of 422 percent.
•The Missouri Division of Finance issued 1,545 new payday loan licenses in 2006, an increase of 69 percent since 2003.
•Missouri allows payday loans to be renewed up to six times (while our neighboring states forbid renewals), meaning Missourians paid $317 million in renewal and late fees, second in actual dollars only to the state of California.
The results have been devastating to many families, leading to loss of homes and cars, and putting struggling working families further into debt.
These consumers quickly learn that our weak payday loan laws in Missouri do nothing to protect them from spiraling debt.
It is time for Missourians to stand up to this industry that has made a fortune off the misfortune of others.
Churches and nonprofit agencies that assist families in Kansas City and elsewhere in the state have seen the devastating effects the payday loan industry is having on working Missourians, and have joined with me in calling for stronger laws.
Even Congress recently took action to protect military families from these same predatory lenders that have mushroomed around military posts, just as they have in strip malls and in many depressed areas of our state.
For the past five years, I have called on the Missouri General Assembly to change our laws to provide protections to all our citizens by limiting interest rates to 36 percent, by eliminating the practice of renewing loans, and by providing tools to punish those who violate these laws.
I will renew my efforts in the 2008 legislative session. In the meantime, I encourage Kansas City to do what the General Assembly has failed to do — stand up for our citizens by standing up to the payday loan industry.
Jay Nixon is the attorney general of Missouri. He lives in Jefferson City.
Hunting for AT&T’s elusive discounts
Friday, September 14th, 2007Please click here to read about reporter Michael Sorkin’s unrelenting quest to uncover the hidden deals that AT&T allegedly offers.
Taum Sauk infomercial- news blurb or news blur?
Thursday, September 13th, 2007ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH EDITORIAL
In prime time, KSDK-TV was scheduled to air “A New Beginning: Johnson’s Shut-ins State Park.” Its subject, as the title suggests, was the popular Missouri state park that essentially was destroyed in December 2005 by a wall of water released by the catastrophic failure of AmerenUE’s Taum Sauk hydroelectric reservoir.
Because “A New Beginning” uses the presentation styles and techniques of television news, it looks like a news special. It is not. Because “A New Beginning” aired on a station that identifies itself as “Newschannel 5,” viewers might think that it was produced by the station’s news department. It was not. Because promos for “A New Beginning” promise to deliver “the full story” of the disaster, viewers might conclude that it tells them the full story of the disaster. It does not. Please click here to read the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s editorial on this infomercial paid for by Ameren’s customers.
Ameren: Redefining the definition of News
Wednesday, September 12th, 2007ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Airing in primetime on KSDK is a half-hour show on a controversial topic: the Taum Sauk reservoir disaster. A perfect subject for a news show.
The program looks and feels like a TV news show. Karen Foss, the former longtime KSDK news anchor, hosts it. Experts are interviewed. So are executives and state officials. They discuss in a seemingly frank manner the environmental catastrophe and rebuilding efforts that followed the December 2005 breach at AmerenUE’s massive reservoir, when 1.3 billion gallons of water crashed through Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park.”Get the full story on what happened,” proclaim the print and online ads touting the show.But the “full story” is actually a polished infomercial. Click here to read the full story.
Ameren rebate checks begin to flow
Monday, September 10th, 2007By Jeffrey Tomich
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/10/2007
Ameren Corp. said it will begin refunding $140 million to its Illinois (NOT Missouri) electric customers beginning this week, with nearly 1 million customers getting at least $85.
Customers will get either a bill credit or a rebate check in the mail over the next month, St. Louis-based Ameren said today.
The checks will be mailed to 935,000 residential customers who are current on their bills starting Wednesday, Ameren officials announced during a series of press conferences around the state. For the full Post-Dispatch story, click here.
For Ameren’s news release, click here.
AT&T is raising some rates today by up to 25 percent
Friday, September 7th, 2007By Michael D. Sorkin
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/07/20
AT&T plans to increase some phone rates today by as much as 25 percent. The company says about half its Missouri customers will see higher bills.
The increases are on flat rates for basic local phone service in the St. Louis area and other urban parts of the state. Not affected are rates in Illinois and most bundled rate packages that many customers use.
The increases range from a low of 75 cents to a high of $2.50 per month. One basic rate will go to $12.50 a month from $10.
For the full Post-Dispatch story, click here.
