Consumers Council of Missouri presented the 2015 Alberta Slavin Award to Senator Claire McCaskill for her efforts in the U.S. Senate to pass the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Rental Car Safety Act in the omnibus transportation bill that passed Congress in December and that President Obama signed into law. The law prohibits nearly all rental car companies, including many car dealers, from renting, loaning or selling recalled vehicles until the safety defects have been repaired. Pre ...
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CCM Decries Payday Lender Re-opening Quickly on West Florissant after Turmoil
KMOX Radio, July 1, 2015 While many businesses in Ferguson have still not re-opened, Pay Day Loans was quick to open their doors. They have three locations along West Florissant. Jacqueline Hutchinson is Board Chair for Missouri Consumers Council and says that this is typical from predators. “We know that the rates for Pay Day Loans can be as much as 1,400 percent as compared to if you borrowed the money from a bank,” says Hutchinson. She says that there needs to be le ...
Justice Department Settles Case about Red Lining with Eagle Bank & Trust Co.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 29, 2015 WASHINGTON • The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday it has reached a settlement with Eagle Bank & Trust Company of Missouri resolving allegations of lending discrimination in St. Louis. Mike Walsh, the bank's president and CEO, said Eagle disagreed with the government's allegations but agreed to the settlement to "put the best interests of the people we serve above any desire to continue discussions in the hopes of rea ...
Rate Hike Proposal for Health Insurance in Missouri Draws Consumer Group’s Ire
KWMU, July 31, 2015 Large rate increases for health insurance may be in the works for some Missourians this year, but we won’t know the final prices for a few months. Last month, insurance companies nationwide submitted their bids for rate increases. The Missouri proposals from Coventry Health Care were among the steepest, including a 29 percent hike for individual plans sold on Healthcare.gov. According to rate filings, Coventry's rate increases could affect 70,000 people. ...
U.S. Senate Passes Rental Car Safety Bill
Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, July 30, 2015 Today the U.S. Senate voted to enact the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act, as part of the DRIVE Act, which will provide long-term funding for transportation projects across the nation. The rental car provision was the only part of the bill relating to safety that both sides of the aisle agreed on. The Safe Rental Car Act (S 1173) was included in the bill that Senator John Thune (R-SD) proposed and was a ...
GM Faces Federal Probe Over Recalls
The Detroit News, July 23, 2015 General Motors Co. now faces an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, adding to a list of several authorities and agencies looking into the automaker’s conduct after its delayed ignition switch recall last year. The automaker disclosed the investigation in a regulatory filing Thursday. It was unclear if GM or its dealers are the target, however. GM said it was notified June 3 of the investigation by the FTC that concerned “certified ...
McCaskill Adds Recalled Rental Car Bill to Committee’s Vehicle Safety Legislation
Bloomberg Business, July 16, 2015 A Senate panel killed a proposal to permit companies to continue renting vehicles that have been recalled, a measure criticized by consumer groups, automakers and even some rental-car companies. The Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee instead voted Wednesday to require cars be repaired before they’re rented. The change resulted from an amendment by Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat. It modified a bill, introduced las ...
First Ever Rate Review Process Could Lead to Lower Health Insurance Rates
Consumers Council of Missouri, July 2015 Missouri is the only state in the country in which the Department of Insurance has no authority over health insurance rates. As a result, under the requirements of the Affordable Care Act the federal Department of Health and Human Services reviews the rates for Missouri. Because the state doesn’t review rates on behalf of consumers, Consumers Council of Missouri teamed up with Missouri Foundation for Health to analyze the rates for 20 ...
Blunt Asked to Support Safe Rental Car Act
Joplin Independent, July 13, 2015 ST. LOUIS, Mo – The Consumers Council of Missouri announced yesterday that it is calling upon Sen. Roy Blunt, R-MO, to co-sponsor legislation to bar rental car companies from renting or selling unsafe, recalled vehicles to the public until the safety defects have been repaired. A key vote over rental car safety is expected July 15, 2015, in the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee. Under pressure from auto manufacturers and car dealers, Congress ha ...
Woman Borrows $100, Pays Back $3,592; Judges Rule Legal Under Missouri Law
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 13, 2015 Erica Hollins borrowed $100 in 2006 at the Loan Express store on Olive Street downtown. By 2011, she had paid back $3,592, garnished from her wages at a nursing and retirement home. She might still be paying today had she not found a lawyer to try to stop it. She wasn’t — and isn’t — the only one in that fix. Other people who borrow small amounts in St. Louis end up paying 50 and 60 times the original amount borrowed through wage garn ...
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