Category: Other Consumer Issues

PSC Supports Restricting Payday Lenders As Sites for Consumers to Pay Utility Bills

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 4, 2014 Missouri utility regulators want to limit the relationship between the companies they regulate and the payday lenders where some customers pay their bills. A majority of the Missouri Public Service Commission expressed support for a new rule keeping utilities from using payday lenders as “authorized pay stations,” which are locations authorized by a utility to accept bill payments. “There’s still a long way to go before we have a ...

How To Buy Live Event, Sports Tickets

National Consumers League, August 19, 2014 With fall concert series being announced, the NFL season ready to kick off, and MLB playoffs just around the corner, it is a great time to be a live music and sports fan. However, ticket sellers such as Ticketmaster, artists, sports teams, and venues do not always have consumers’ best interests at heart. NCL wants to make sure fans have the information they need to make the best ticket buying decisions they can. Below are just a few ...

Editorials, Blogs Expose Negative Effects of Steep Sales Tax Hike for Roads

Kansas City Star: Missouri Road Tax Increase a Study in Bad Behavior St. Louis Post-Dispatch: MoDOT's List of Shiny Objects Can't Obscure Problems with Amendment 7 JimmyCsays: The proposed 3/4 cent state sales-tax increase for transportation is a bum deal for taxpayers Ray Hartmann in St. Louis Magazine: Indecent Proposals Sen. John Lamping in Missouri Times: Missouri Road Tax Proposal A Cynical Grab by Special Interests ...

GM Announces Support for Bill Banning Rental, Sale of Unrepaired Recalled Cars

Office of U.S. Sentator Charles Schumer, July 16, 2014 General Motors is First Major Car Manufacturer to Support Bill Closing Dangerous Loophole Schumer: GM’s Support for Our Bill Shows the Real Danger of Having Defective Cars on the Road and Opens Door for Other Manufacturers to Endorse the Bill and Keep Consumers Safe U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) has announced that General Motors is the first major car manufacturer to support his legislation that would close a ...

CFPB Acts Against Payday Lender for Pressuring Consumers into Debt Cycle

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, July 10, 2014 ACE to Pay $10 Million for Illegal Debt Collection Tactics  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took enforcement action against ACE Cash Express, one of the largest payday lenders in the United States, for pushing payday borrowers into a cycle of debt. The CFPB found that ACE used illegal debt collection tactics – including harassment and false threats of lawsuits or criminal prosecution ...

McCaskill Takes on Television Services over Consumer ‘Truth in Billing’ Tactics

Missourinet, June 26, 2014  Senator Claire McCaskill’s Consumer Affairs Committee is going to investigate billing practices of the cable and satellite television industry. She’s asking customers to send their horror stories to her as part of her committee’s look into possible “truth in billing practices” legislation. She says some of the practices are unfair to consumers and need to be cleaned up. In fact, she says, she’s a victim. “You’ve got a ten dollar charge ...

Activists Denounce Payday Lending Bill Passed by Legislature, Sent to Governor

Advocates for Fair Lending Urge Governor to Veto Bill St. Louis Post-Disptach, May 1, 2014  JEFFERSON CITY • Regulations passed by the Missouri Legislature Thursday to restrict payday loans don’t go far enough for some community and faith-based groups. Supporters of the legislation said the bill provides protections for consumers while still allowing payday lenders to operate and provide emergency loans for individuals who need them. Bill sponsor Sen. Mike Cunningham, R-Ro ...

Sen. Boxer Urges GM CEO Mary Barra to Support Rental Car Safety Legislation

Office of Sen. Barbara Boxer, April 8, 2014 Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) sent a letter Tuesday (April 8) urging General Motors CEO Mary Barra to support the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act, bipartisan legislation that would help protect consumers by keeping unsafe, recalled rental cars off the road. Last week, at a Senate Commerce Subcommittee hearing on GM’s recall of 2.6 million vehicles, Senator Boxer questioned Barra about GM’s tro ...

Starter Cut-off Devices Keep Car Payments Coming But Scare Consumers

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 22, 2013 Back in the old days, if you couldn’t make your car payment, you had to watch out for the repo man. Now, the repo man is a robot that rides around in a little device under your dashboard. Miss a payment, and the car becomes a hunk of useless metal immobilized by a starter blocking device triggered from cyberspace. The owner then has a choice — pay up and get use of the car again, or wait until the human repo man eventually rolls up. ...

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