ThinkProgress, February 3, 2014 The Postal Service (USPS) could spare the most economically vulnerable Americans from dealing with predatory financial companies under a proposal endorsed over the weekend by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). “USPS could partner with banks to make a critical difference for millions of Americans who don’t have basic banking services because there are almost no banks or bank branches in their neighborhoods,” Warren wrote in a Huffington Post op-ed on ...
Tag Archives: News Coverage
Website for Consumer Complaints
If you’re thinking about using a new company that you don’t know much about, you can now find out if the company has consumer complaints lodged against it. Attorney General Jay Nixon has a new website which will give you a history or pattern of consumer complaints eagainst individual companies. For more information, you can also call 1-800-392-8222. ...
In Memory of Consumers Council Founder Alberta Slavin
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, Michael Sorkin Alberta Slavin, who founded the consumer movement in Missouri 40 years ago with a group of housewives angry over grocery prices, died Monday (Oct. 27, 2008) at St. Louis University Hospital after a lengthy illness. She was 78 and a longtime Clayton resident. Her Housewives Elect Lower Prices (HELP) group gained national prominence in 1967 targeting supermarkets over high prices in inner city neighborhoods. She then formed the Utility Consu ...
Report Analyzes Area Banks’ Adherence to Lending, Community Investment Laws
St. Louis Equal Housing and Community Reinvestment Alliance (SLEHCRA) is a coalition of non-profit and community organizations working to increase investment in low- and moderate-income communities, regardless of race, and in minority communities, regardless of income, by ensuring that banks are meeting their obligations under the Community Reinvestment Act and fair lending laws. In August SLEHCRA released a report in conjunction with the 50th commemoration of the Jeff ...
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Now Taking Complaints on Credit Reporting
For the First Time Consumers Will Get Federal Assistance on Complaints On October 26st, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) began accepting consumer complaints about credit reporting, giving consumers individual-level complaint assistance for the first time at the federal level. “Credit reporting companies exert great influence over the lives of consumers. They help determine eligibility for loans, housing, and sometimes jobs,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. ...
Chair Gunn Leaving Public Service Commission
St. Louis Beacon, January 16, 2013 The head of the Missouri Public Service Commission will depart from his post later this spring, a move that will cause another vacancy for the powerful agency that regulates the state’s utilities. Kevin Gunn, a Webster Groves native, told the Beacon on Wednesday he will leave the PSC on or around March 1. Among other things, the commission is responsible for deciding utility cases as well as crafting and enforcing various administrative rules. ...
Car Dealers Want Out of Legislation Banning Renting Recalled Cars
USA Today, January 16, 2013 Car dealers and small rental-car companies want to be able to sell, lend or rent cars that have been recalled for a variety of defects -- before they're fixed. And they're working behind the scenes on Capitol Hill to make sure they can. Major rental-car companies agreed last year not to do that. But lawmakers, concerned about vehicle safety, want everyone on board. Legislation to block all rental-car companies from loaning out recalled vehicles bef ...
Ameren Includes New, Questionable Costs In Customer Fuel Charge
St. Louis Beacon, December 11, 2012 Even though Missouri law bars utilities from charging their customers for construction projects that haven't produced any power, Ameren Missouri has tacked $10 million onto Missouri customers' bills for power lines that it hasn't even started to build yet. The utility estimates that this cost will increase to $53 million by 2016. The Public Service Commission staff and Office of Public Counsel, which represents the ratepayer in these hea ...
‘Unbanked’ Economy Traps Many St. Louisans
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 13.2012 A growing number of American households don't have a checking or savings account, a clear sign of much deeper financial instability. The percentage of households in the St. Louis region that are 'unbanked' rose to an estimated 9.7 percent in 2011, according to a survey released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Wednesday, an increase from 7.6 percent in 2009, when the survey was last conducted. The percentage of unbanked Afri ...
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