We support reforms to the financial marketplace to curb bad practices by banks and lenders.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, better known as the CFPB, is now open for suggestions. The new consumer watchdog won’t get its full powers until July, but in the meantime it has launched ConsumerFinance.gov. To help ensure that it hits the ground running, the CFPB is asking you to weigh in early with ideas for what consumers want and need.
Go to www.ConsumerFinance.gov to tell the CFPB what you think it should do to better protect consumers from shady financial products and services. To help you get started, here are some suggestions that we have sent in about credit cards. To get more helpful ideas go to www.DefendYourDollars.org:
Reduce the amount that credit card banks can charge for a penalty fee, such as a late fee, from the $25 permitted under existing regulations to $10. Reduce the penalty fee level for a repeat incident from $35 to $15.
Limit the size of penalty interest rates to amounts that are “reasonable and proportional” The current rules only address the amounts of penalty fees, not penalty interest rate charges.
Require credit card companies to enable consumers to earn their way back to a good rate if they make six consecutive on time payments. Currently, consumers get this opportunity only if they make the first six payments after a penalty interest rate on time.
Require credit card terms and conditions be simple enough to fit on a two page plain language contract.
You can be creative in crafting your message as well. The CFPB is accepting suggestions from Twitter, YouTube and good ol’ fashion email. Or just go to www.ConsumerFinance.gov and make your suggestion.
Recently, Senator Bernie Sanders mentioned applying a transaction fee to wall street as a way to increase revenue. Has this been considered, and if not, what chance does it have to be implemented?
Thank you Elizabeth Warren … with all that’s wrong with the world and our country, you are a welcome breath of fresh air and a beam of sunlight.
My biggest gripe is that banks can borrow money at about 0% interest and yet many are charging in excess of 20%, 25% and even 35% — this is unconscionable. That spread is way, way too wide. We used to have usury laws that limited APR to 18%. Seems to me that’s a mighty good rate of return. Let’s get back to being reasonable and not letting the banks just fatten themselves at our expense. Thanks for asking and for listening. Keep up the good work!!
this is probably not within your current realm, but someone (among the wall street crowd) needs to go to jail or this scenario will repeat itself.
How about some consumer education on proper use of Credit Cards?
Dear Ms. Warren,
Below are listed some ideas that would help consumers in regards to credit card companies.
I was very happy that you were appointed Head of this new CFPB. I hope you will be able to actually affect these changes. I see the House has passed some legislation that would defund CFPB. It discourages me to realize that the Republicans put Big Business over Americans.
Thank you for all your good work, you really educated me on what was happening in this financial crisis
Sincerely
Ann Collins
Reduce the amount that credit card banks can charge for a penalty fee, such as a late fee, from the $25 permitted under existing regulations to $10. Reduce the penalty fee level for a repeat incident from $35 to $15.
Limit the size of penalty interest rates to amounts that are “reasonable and proportional” The current rules only address the amounts of penalty fees, not penalty interest rate charges.
Require credit card companies to enable consumers to earn their way back to a good rate if they make six consecutive on time payments. Currently, consumers get this opportunity only if they make the first six payments after a penalty interest rate on time.
Require credit card terms and conditions be simple enough to fit on a two page plain language contract.
Bring back the usury laws and we can jail these people for charging a usurious amount of interest this is loan sharking at it’s best,
Than you Richard E Vary sr
Make it mandotory that Morgage people spell out if they don’t intend to keep the mortgage but sell it.
I re-financed my home this year and my bank showed me a paper that said they would keep my loan at the bank.and not sell it.
I took their word for not getting a copy of the paper.
That paper never showed up at closing and my mortage was sold 3 time in less that 3 months.
Funny thing is my bank who orginated the loan still gets the monthly payment and send they send that to PHH (who they first sold my mortgage to)to send to Fannie Mae.
I don’t think they are doing this for free So all three are making money .
Dear Ms. Warren, I am so happy to have you in our government. We should eliminate over draft fees to people having direct deposit as the money always comes in. Was duped by Bank of America in signing on for over draft privileges which really meant they will put through any charge I make; like a $1.35 to buy cookies at McDonalds; and charge me $35.
Same as the justice department is requiring tobacco companies to advertise their lies, bank and credit companies should be requried to prominently display on their websites any upcoming changes to the account terms. The language should be plain and conspicous, for example “If you do not opt out with 30 days we will raise your interest rate to 18%” or “We have decided to do away with the purchase grace period on your account, act now” or “Begining March 9th we changed our minds and will charge ATM fees (TD Bank)”. These finincial institutions count on ommisons and sending confusing letter similar to advertisements so you will ignore the changes. Require them to talk in plain english, and on the homepage and payment web pages for these accounts. Their language should be written like a newspaper on the 5th grade education level so young and old will understand.
You need to go after a company with the name of AIM HEALTHCARE who is responsible for marketing a health insurance program through BEECHSTREET CORP that is a scam. There are thousands of us that have paid for these plans and found out it is a scam when none of our medical bills were paid by them. I was approved for hip revision surgery to the tune of $65,000 that they won’t pay for after approving payment for the procedure.
One suggestion would be to make credit card and loan interest tax deductible. At one time this was part of the tax code. I do admit I am not sure as to why it was changed or how much that would advantage people, and at a time when there is talk about eliminating mortgage interest as a tax deduction, that might not be realistic.
Another suggestion would be to create an online system for consumer protection something like Consumer Reports in which a database would be available for consumer subscription with a government sponsored testing entity such as we see ‘FDA’ approved or ‘USDA’ approved. For example, when we buy an electronic device it would be great to have companies follow
(not just voluntarily) recycling rules that require using ‘green’ parts and also make a center available if you upgrade or replace your device to take the old one.
Create regulations that would prohibit any bank or entity providing mortgage loans from selling the loan to another entity at all or at least limiting to one but not without notifying the holder of the mortgage with adequate notice to change to another mortgage provider.
The cost of EYEGLASSES is outrageous – even with discounts, they can run well over $300 and I KNOW that a piece of wire and some curved lenses do NOT cost anywhere near that amount – I think that these places should be looked into for the scam that they have become.
Reduce the amount that credit card banks can charge for a penalty fee, such as a late fee, from the $25 permitted under existing regulations to $10. Reduce the penalty fee level for a repeat incident from $35 to $15.
Limit the size of penalty interest rates to amounts that are “reasonable and proportional” The current rules only address the amounts of penalty fees, not penalty interest rate charges.
Require credit card companies to enable consumers to earn their way back to a good rate if they make six consecutive on time payments. Currently, consumers get this opportunity only if they make the first six payments after a penalty interest rate on time.
Require credit card terms and conditions be simple enough to fit on a two page plain language contract.
I notice that all credit companies are now charging fees as well as interest how does that help consumer. Basically, it coming down to if you use the card and make sure one has half of the money and pay it off and you are not slave to all these fees. They are adding on fees as well as the interest where is the reform to help the consumer.
1. Require the Fees section of the disclosure section to be bolded as much as the intro rates are bolded. Now, I often see “Balance Transfers -Zero Percent for 12 Months” large and bold, and the 5% Balance Transfer Fee listed in small plain type on the next page.
2. Require credit card companies to enable consumers to earn their way back to a good rate anytime if they make six consecutive on time payments. Currently, consumers get this opportunity only if they make the first six payments on time after a penalty interest rate is required.
Your first job is to survive for the future.
To start with: 1)make the credit card companies spell out everything in CLEAR, EASY TO UNDERSTAND WORDS. 2)Stop them from gaming the law by jacking up the fees and thus increasing their profit margins. 3)The banks are also jacking late fees, etc to increase their profit margins stop them from doing that. In both cases above given the economy jacking of fees and chrges to increase their profit lines is unacceptable at the least. Like most I have dropped the use of my credit cards. I have a flawless credit history but I categorically refuse to pay the jacked up interest rates on these. The cardholders and mortgageees are being nickled and dimed to death when does the good of society replace the obscene profit margins and golden parachutes of the big companies and banks?
Checking account overdraft protection rules should include a provision requiring financial institutions to immediately notify the customer when they have had to use the overdraft protection to transfer funds.
When your agency does find wrongdoing make any fines high enough and pursue any criminal acts with vigor. Bottom line that the punishment fits the crime.
Please do not allow late fee charges larger than any payments. E.g., do not allow a $30 late charge for a two cent overdraft. Late charges should never exceed the overrage. Over credit line charges should function the same way. I was charged $39 for a $.02 cent overrage on one VISA account.
Deposits should be listed in a bank account’s records at night before debits. Now, you could have deposited $200 on a particular day, have 20 $10 checks come in on that day, and the checks are withdrawn from the account first, before the deposit is credited. This could result in 20 overdraft fees while the bank actually has the money. This is unconscionable, in my opinion.
Thanks for your help.
Next, take on the corrupt FDA–who is in bed with the big pharmaceuticals. Protect vitamins and supplements.
Get rid of GMO food and force its labeling. Protect the family farms.
You have a lot you could do. From experience watching the FDA in action (or inaction), I have little faith.
Good luck.
In January 2010 I applied with Program Assistants for a mortgage modification. I was promised that they would be able to accomplish this. I paid $1,250 to them for this and was promised that if they were unable to perform the modification they would refund my money. Its now Feb 2011 and they never got me a mortgage modification and they refuse to refund my money. This company is obviously a scam! Do not believe any company that promises to modify your mortgage! I can tell you they definitely cannot do it. I have sent all information to the NJ state attorney generals office. Still want my refund!
Interest rates charged by Banks & Credit Card companies are ridiculous. While my interest rates are low and I have an excellent credit rating I’m trying to help my college-age children establish credit…responsibly.
All I can say is the rates they are charging is nothing short of extortion. Didn’t they go after the mafia for the same thing…loan-sharking?
I am normally very careful, but I was caught in a fraudulent action this month that seems to not be working out. My wife and I are both retired, on fixed income, in Andersonville, TN, and seek every opportunity to save a couple of dollars. We have always enjoyed taking our granddaughter, now 9, to the Home and Garden Show in February in Knoxville, TN. This year, while reading the flyer/schedule for the show, I noted that if we purchased our tickets at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Federal Credit Union we would get $2 off for each ticket, so I decided to stop at the branch in Clinton to purchase our three tickets: 2 Senior tickets and one child. The teller at the ORNLCU window seemed a bit fuddled when I asked for the tickets, and I mentioned getting the $2 off per ticket. He spoke with another person behind the counter and took my Citibank credit card. He returned with a slip for me to sign, but I noted that he had not given us the discount , the slip being for a total of $21) and called his attention to it. He said, “Oh, my mistake.”, and took the slip back and returned with a correct one with a total of $15, which I signed. He gave me our 3 tickets. All was well and good.
But two days ago, we received our Citibank bill and there was a strange $10 fee charged to us on the bill, called a “Cash Front End Fee”. There was also interest (10 cents) charged to the $10. I immediately called Citibank to inquire about the $10 charge and was told that was for a cash withdrawal at ORNL Federal Credit Union on February 11. I remarked that I had not made a cash withdrawal, but that I had paid for the tickets with a credit and left the Credit Union with tickets in my hand, and not cash. And furthermore, I asked them, why would I do a cash withdrawal at a cost of $10 to save $6?. I was transferred to another person, having to give my information again, and then a third, this time an Isabel, ID# GVP843, having again to give my information. I asked this third person who got the $10 that was charged to my account and she told me that ORNL got it.
I called ORNL and talked with a lady there who finiallly decided I needed to talk with a Manager, so she transferred me to a Manager whose name I didn’t get. She listened to my problem and told me that ORNL didn’t get the $10, but that the Credit Card company did. She did say that she would call the person in charge of the department that would handle this and would return my call. She noted that it was 4:30 and she might not be able to reach that person, but would call her tomorrow and return my call then. I gave her my phone number. Needless to say, she has not returned my call and this is the 3rd day now.
My third call was to the Home and Garden Show number listed in their flyer. I talked with a lady named Lyle, who listened and told me to call her back if I didn’t get the problem resolved with the Credit Union/Credit Card company. I told Lyle that I acted on good faith, reacting to their printed suggestion to go to ORNLCU to purchase the tickets at $2 off, never suspecting that ORNL would use my card fraudulently to withdraw money without my permission.
It is only $10, but it is still $10 that was gained from me in a fraudulent manner. I paid for the tickets with a credit card. I think the teller should have told me up front if the bank did not accept credit cards for payment instead of using it secretly to withdraw cash from my account. And I didn’t think it was possible to withdraw cash with a credit card without a pin number, which I did not give the teller.
Thanks for the work you do.
Please work towards reducing credit card interest rates. I have never missed a payment, but a number of my credit card companies/banks have raised their purchase APRs. When I’ve called to ask “why”, they tell me that it’s due to “the economy” or other factors that are beyond their control. They insist that I’m a “good customer” and I’ve done nothing to merit the increase – “it’s just the economy”.
Unfortunately, both myself and my two children have chronic health conditions. We have accumulated five figures worth of debt to cover medical costs, child care expenses and meet our monthly expenses (especially during months when my children’s father is working a reduced schedule at his job and cannot pay the full amount of child support owed).
Many of us aren’t filling for bankruptcy or otherwise discharging our debt, we just want some help so that the interest rates don’t make it extremely difficult to make an impact on the debt. Many of us can only afford minimum payments and will be paying for decades in order to eliminate our debt.
It’s overwhelming to look at my credit card statements and feel like I’ll never be able to pay them off, save for a home and/or otherwise “live the American dream”. I worked three jobs while earning my bachelor’s degree and am still paying off my student loans. There are many hard working people like me who really need some help.
Thank you for your time,
Jody
Banks are getting away with robbing the general public. Overall, money is still “cheap” -however they continue to raise rates and fees. Interest on credit cards is way higher than it needs to be.
What is keeping me awake as a retired person – age 67 –
Where to keep the funds I’ve saved my whole life so they won’t disappear. The stock market is too risky, and cd’s are so – o low. There should be some relatively low expense mutual fund that at least would not decline in value.
I thought Liz Warren was going to apply and implement the new rules and regulations to the financial institutions rather than first asking the consumers what they like to have her do! Let’s see her do implement the rules and then after evaluations of her performance we felt that she is not doing her job right, then we jump in and put our two cents in.
As far as I’m concerned the way Republicans have been creating havoc she’ll be seriously ineffective and consequently she turns out to be like the rest of them who have been fooling us all these years and becomes one of them greedy and selfish.
Prove me wrong, tell us what you have accomplished thus far so we can check your performance before offering our advice. Thank you.
Ali Golji
I think banks rip us off when we want to refinance! They should be limited in what they can charge when a person refinances their home especially if we have a good credit score or refinance with the same bank.
My credit card, and apparently many others, were compromised in the office of the credit card company. The company issued me a new card. Now I had the problem of contacting the many agencies and companies which I had authorized to make periodic or automatic charges against my old credit card. What a pain! (It would have been nice if those I contacted had human beings manning their phones).
Why can’t credit card companies automatically switch those companies previously authorized to make deductions from my current (compromised) credit card to my new credit card?
Are we really getting to the ROOT of the banking evil? We are dealing with greed, and a bank MO that requires them to make stellar profits. Sound like the oil companies? So, they are re-inventing the banking wheel…at the expense of the consumer. Why for example, do banks send pre-approved credit cards to anyone, regardless of credit history? That should stop. Why do they send credit cards to 18 year olds just starting college and have little knowledge of how to handle finances? That should stop. Banks might look to that quiet group of financial institutions called Credit Unions, and see how to treat a customer. That should start.
Regards,
Tom
The credit crunch of 2008, 2009, 2010 killed the economy. Don’t allow the industry to arbitrarily cut credit limits with giving notice to consumers. My target visa was 10,000 dollar limit for years. I paid it off in 2010 completely and they immediately without warning lowered the limit to 500 dollars. This is perfectly legal right now. That really hurt me and kept me from finishing home improvements. That money would have been spent on jobs and materials. My credit was perfect paid and I had a stable job, no missed payments, multiple lines of credit, mortgages, etc, and I suffered tremendously.
Because money talks, large financial corporations get away with too much. These institutions need to be monitored closely to protect the common people.
It is a tragedy that people can make investments which bear the SIPC seal of approval, and are supposed to have their value protected by SIPC, then discover that their “assets” were in a Ponzi scheme (Madoff, Stanford, Bayou, etc), lose their savings, and then be told that they will be sued by the Trustee for money they withdrew from their investment, rather than be assisted by SIPC in recovering from the calamity from which they suffered.
Please support Congressman Garrett’s bill H.R. 757, the Equitable Treatment of Investors Act, http://garrett.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=225698
and any other means at your disposal to protect investors from situations such as these.
Thank you.
Dear Elizabeth;
This letter may not be exactly what you’re looking for or expecting, but its relevant.
As a beneficiary of Medicare, of course I get a little scared when hearing of proposed cuts. Am diabetic and on a pump, the supplies for which are covered by Medicare and my supplement. The Insulin is covered by my limited VA benefits too so I’m well cared for in my retirement.
Medicare however can and should be cut. The waste is criminal. For Medicare not to negotiate for best price with its tremendous volume is unconscionable. The VA does it. I see waste every time I pick up my three month supply of Glucometer test strips. I’m reminded every time I see another TV ad offering to send a free meter so that a company will be able to reap high profits from these easily made strips. Imported of course.
Make these companies compete!
It’s the same with the “Hoveround” power chairs. “Free” they advertise. Why shouldn’t they be required to say something like “tax-payer provided” or whatever is more accurate.
We wouldn’t be seeing all these ads if the profits weren’t so tremendous.
A bill was once introduced but died. Wonder why. I think it was HR-4.
Please try to do something about it and cut Medicare expenditures the right way.
Thank you,
Dave Cox
We need to do more to stop credit card companies from marketing to college students. It is like addicting young children to tobacco. Once one gets hooked on easy credit with high payoff interest rates (I would say usury) they are in a detrimental life cycle.
The biggest companies in credit cards are the biggest rip offs, they won’t talk to you, hire lawyers outside your area and when you find a local to help, they see who it is and won’t take your case, they hire outside collection agency that get really nasty with a person. Don’t any of these people have a conscience? Perhaps all the rich should come down to earth with us poor people whom they continue to harrass all the time. The work would be a beter place to live and less problems and more LOVE than hatred and devestations. People read the FINE PRINT IN EVERYTHING YOU DO.
Yesterday I received a FED X package from Chase Bank thanking me for being such a good mortgage holder. They wanted to reward me with a loan modification that would reduce my current rate by 1 full percent. I have had this loan for eight years and always paid on time. Nice, but when I called I was not eligible due to the fact that home is rented out. What has this got to do with whether or not I am a good mortgage holder? I was awarded the mortgage in good standing and have upheld my agreement with them. This new rate was suposed to be part of the stimulus bill and I fail to see why the home’s status should make me ineligible.
DESPITE ASSURANCES THAT MY $50 REBATE CHECK WAS IN THE MAIL, AND MY CONTINUOUS PHONE CALLS, OFFICE DEPOT NEVER SENT ME THE FUNDS THEY PROMISED FOR MY 2007 PURCHASE OF A CANON DIGITAL CAMERA. ON FEB. 23, 2011, THE PALM BEACH POST REPORTED THAT THE SAME OFFICE DEPOT HAD EXPANDED THEIR PHONY PRICING POLICIES TO CONTRACTS THEY HAD BEEN GIVEN BY NEBRASKA, MISSOURI, CALIFORNIA, GEORGIA, FLORIDA AND WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AS WELL.
EVIDENTLY THEY WERE ENCOURAGED BY THE FACT THAT THEY GOT AWAY SCOTT FREE WITH DUPING INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT SUFFERING ANY PENALTY, AND STARTED, IN 2008, TO TAKE THIS POLICY TO A HIGHER LEVEL. I REALLY HOPE THAT YOUR OFFICE CAN BE EFFECTIVE IN BRINGING THIS TYPE OF FRAUD, PERPETRATED BY LARGE, ECONOMICALLY POWERFUL RETAILERS, LIKE OFFICE DEPOT, TO A HALT. THEY DESERVE TO BE PUNISHED FOR THEIR DECEIT AND FORCED TO MAKE RESTITUTION TO ALL THOSE WHO THEY HAVE HARMED.
Rule that credit card companies must reveal (in graphic charts) the cost of carrying debt and the cost of late payment.
Ms. Warren—you are a hero! Finally, after eight long, horrible years of the corrupt Bush administration, you and Obama are here for us.
Please make those financial corporations and banks pay back the money they stole! No one seems to talk about it anymore and it’s so important that they don’t get away with such criminal behavior.
I realize that is a huge task, but at least the corporations and banks can be exposed for the thieves that they are.
Thank you so much for being there.
Several months ago I had written a letter to Liz Warren via the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with a complaint about Capital One, and was informed that the agency was not quite prepared to deal with this as yet, since they were just getting “up and running”. Basically over a year ago, Capital One gave me the “option” of staying with the 5 or 6% interest rate on a $12,000 balance or going to 16% and 23% interest rate. This notice apparently appeared in a brochure with a billing that either I did not receive or misplaced. I repeatedly appealed to both Capital One and senators and some sort of government oversight to give me the option of returning to the lower rate, just as it would have been if I had acted within a certain time frame. Capital One repeatedly and steadfastly refused, to the extent that my monthly interest payment alone is $175.00. I find this ruthless and totally unacceptable financial behavior. Please help.
Dear Dr. Warren:
Of all that this administration has accomplished I think the creation of your agency and then successfully naming you to head it up is outstanding. Particularly in this climate of division and battle cries for letting the “market” determine its own course, we, the average and rather voiceless citizenry need your guidance and advocacy more than ever. A heart felt Thank You
for your determined and courageous leadership.
Peter
most concerned about high interest rates on credit cards. It affects the ones least able to pay.
Mrs. Warren I am so glad you are here. I have the utmost confidence in your ability.
Those of us who did not jump on the gravy train and lived as prudently as possible need all the help we can get. I/we have been gouged and defrauded by every method possible, then presented the bill from the gambling high rollers. What a mess! Quite frankly I have lost all confidence in and have no respect for the “too big to fail” financial comunity.
Thank you for all your efforts on our behalf.
Pauline Warren
78 year old great grandmother
Reduce the amount that credit card banks can charge for a penalty fee, such as a late fee, from the $25 permitted under existing regulations to $10. Reduce the penalty fee level for a repeat incident from $35 to $15.
Limit the size of penalty interest rates to amounts that are “reasonable and proportional” The current rules only address the amounts of penalty fees, not penalty interest rate charges.
Require credit card companies to enable consumers to earn their way back to a good rate if they make six consecutive on time payments. Currently, consumers get this opportunity only if they make the first six payments after a penalty interest rate on time.
Require credit card terms and conditions be simple enough to fit on a two page plain language contract.
Why do CCC (or any payment receiving org) have a due date on a weekend or legal holiday? The only reason I can think of: People incur penalties when their payment isn’t posted.
Reduce the amount that credit card banks can charge for a penalty fee, such as a late fee, from the $25 permitted under existing regulations to $10. Reduce the penalty fee level for a repeat incident from $35 to $15.
Limit the size of penalty interest rates to amounts that are “reasonable and proportional” The current rules only address the amounts of penalty fees, not penalty interest rate charges.
Require credit card companies to enable consumers to earn their way back to a good rate if they make six consecutive on time payments. Currently, consumers get this opportunity only if they make the first six payments after a penalty interest rate on time.
Require credit card terms and conditions be simple enough to fit on a two page plain language contract.
I get charged a $35.00 fee from my bank (Sovereign Bank, R.I.)for ‘Unavailable Funds’ for each transaction that my bank has paid. Their response is that my deposited checks have not cleared, although the issuing bank has already cleared them. My bank will not refund the fees.
It seems when I apply in person for credit cards they give me an introductory interest rate but always fail to tell me that and that’s something people forget to ask. My bank gave me a Visa many years ago in lieu of overdraft coverage (they would deduct any amount needed from my savings). Otherwise I would have no overdraft protection. I rarely ever used that benefit but with fees as they are today one needs to be cautious. Now they charge $10 per charged amount with only $75 charged to my account. If I have over $75 needed in funds I pay $10 per $75. No other coverage is available. I can’t use my savings or line of credit to cover these. It’s not a problem at this point but due to a debilitating illness I have made mistakes lately. It just seems to be an unreasonable way of providing “protetion” not to mention my interest went from 7% to over 15% in spite of my excellent credit rating. Ive been with this bank for over 25 yrs thru 2 merger/sales. Loyalty gets you nothing today. I’m ready to change banks but this is the only one of two that has stayed in our community. Others open and close in 2 yrs or less so we have no local access without a 20 min. drive. Please look into a way consumers can obtain better banking rates and conditions for overdraft. Many people I know have gone into default on their account due to loss of income and automatic withdrawels that are difficult to stop (another problem if you authorize a company to withdraw from your account–nearly impossible to get cooperation in stopping the auto withdrawels without closing your account and then the bank still pays anyway) thanks for taking public input. I wish you much success in your position and I know you will make a difference in consumers’ experiences. BTW I hope you subscribe to Consumer Reports Magazines, I don’t always agree with their position but I do think they do represent the consumer’s position on many issues just now coming to light. Thank you, Valeria Marinella, Madison, OH 44057
I am a great admiror of you Mrs. Warren, thank you for all you do. An artical in Rolling Stone points out that government regulators are in bed with the banks. If your not aware here is a vid. that will get you up to speed.
MERS, (Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems) owned and operated by the WALL STREET BANKSTERS currently foreclosing on 63 million loans, owes every STATE’s COUNTY RECORDERS OFFICES Billions of dollars in filing fees and IS the very reason all the States are out of money to pay teachers, police, fire fighters and county workers. WHY is this department not going after them for the BILLIONS of dollars they defrauded?
I have submitted numerous complaints to the variety of organizations offered to investigate the deceit and manipulation on the part of the banks resulting in millions of wrongful foreclosures happening every single day and NOTHING is being done to STOP THIS?
Sure would like to know why the TRUTH AND JUSTICE is not what America is anymore….seems lies and deceit are the new way of doing business and we were taught not to lie cheat or steal? Seems all the wealthy people do just that and no one is stopping them???
Hello? Elizabeth!!!!!
I find reading and understanding my telephone bill is difficult and part of the problem is that is 3 pages long. I really do not understand the terms and charges. Can Liz Warren require phone companies simplify my phone bill?
Require credit card companies to be responsible for theft and improper use of their credit card pre approved forms. Citizens should not be responsible for this type of identity theft, we don’t solicit nor want this type of junk mail. If we wanted their credit we would ask for it. Instead we have to shred these unwanted solicitations and hope for the best.
The federal government must take a strong position in dealing with the housing crisis! Lenders MUST be required to do loan modifications (including interest rate reductions and lowering principal of the loan based on the serious reduction in property values across the country). Furthermore, there should be a government forced moitorium on all in-process foreclosures to allow homeowners time to apply for the modification. The banks and financial institutions are responsible for our housing crisis and they MUST be required to make adjustments and share the burden to assist homeowners. The President and his administration needs to force these changes!!!
Usurious behavior by major and minor financial institutions, as permitted by our government’s gutless approach to regulating this behavior, is destroying the ability of lower income families to cope with life’s challenges. This leads directly to broken families, increased welfare burdens, and increased crime. Politician’s cowardly position on oversight of this issue is in effect another direct subsidy to the financial industry at a direct and excessive cost to society at large.
Banks are ripping off people with foreclosures. My sister lost her house of many years. The bank has let it sit for two years UNHEATED in Wisconsin, not caring if the pipes break or anything happens to it since they apparently get money from the govt. for the house and/or get insurance coverage if the pipes burst. The bank could very well have let my sister live there and keep the house up until it was sold.
In a similar situation, my son was interested in purchasing a house that had been foreclosed. It hadn’t been lived in for a couple years and was totally uncared for by the bank. They have let paint peel off it,even though it is for sale. Who would buy it at their asking price that is very high? My son looked inside and the basement wall had collapsed. No repairs have been made and the bank was unwilling to come down on price since they evidently are making good money on it as it is.
These situations just do not seem right.
I suggest discounts that require Mail In requests for rebates be banned. If a company advertises that you will receive a rebate, but you must mail in a copy of your original receipt as well as a request form to get a rebate by a specfic date, they already know that a percentage of eligible purchasers will not apply. It is reasonable to hesitate over a new purchase before sending in their original receipt. In a scenerio where the period allowed for a full refund return is 30 days with the original receipt one puts the documents aside to allow them to see if the item performs as they desired. Now the consumer must track the purchase date for the next 30 days and runs the risk of exceeding the time frame required to get the rebate by the rebator. It is certainly plausible that the purchaser misplace or forget and not send in their claim. The retailer should be required to apply the rebate indicated at the time of purchase. The retailer would then send the paperwork to the appropriate agency for re-embursement. If you fail to send in the required paperwork you loose what can be a substantial refund, or the rebate may be relatively small and not deemed worthy of the effort required to put it together for mailing. In any case the rebate offeror is enriched by not having to pay out the rebates. I believe this would be called windfall profit by which the offeror is enriched and the consumer is once again screwed.
The first, and in my opinion, most important thing to change is the unrealistic offering of excessive amounts of credit by creditors, to any and every consumer who qualifies for a credit card. This is completely irresponsible and unscrupulous on behalf of creditors and tempts unsuspecting, or even desperate consumers to fall into the seemingly bottomless pit of deep credit card debt. Also, the interest rates needs to be capped off at a “reasonable” rate, meaning ,one which is feasible to pay off in a reasonable amount of time ( not 20 years ) at the minimum balance due.
Financial Institutions must be banned from owning any interest in rating agencies.
Banking functions should be separated as they once were,commercial banks, savings and loan, brokerage.
Our credit scores are maintained and handled or mishandled then sold back to us by the same people. This is just another conflict of interest. This should not be a for profit industry or someone else should maintain them and the big three only market them. Also for example a bank was clearly in the wrong in providing a confirmation number for payment then claiming much later they had not recived the payment(done by phhone) then proceeded to red ink my credit score. I have little recourse.
Please help – there are tremendous loopholes for these companies.
Reduce the maximum allowable interest rate. Cap it at a few points over prime.
Prosecute the companies that caused the financial meltdown.
be yourself.
This is prsonnal. I have terrible credit because a bank went under in 2000 and has ketppt charging late fees and finance charges, is this legal, can the new Consumer Act do anything to help me and my situation, it ha ruined my credit.
Change the FICO system so that a customer that wants to close a credit card because the rates are too high or because you want to use a different bank or credit card can close out a the credit card without it lowering a person’e fico score.
We need to control the banks, limit the payments to Wall Street, find financing for local efforts, e.g., local foods, stores controlled by local people, revolving loan funds, and label foods as to whether or not genetic manipulation has taken place. Much needs to be done with misleading advertising. Get medical ads out of the public media.
Require all creditors to go by the postal mark date as the delivery date, and require them to retain proof when they claim that payment came late. Right now they lie all the time, open their mail a week late, do whatever they can to tack on illegal
late charges.
Make it illegal for any institution to charge for a paper statement if they don’t make your statement available to yo on line. My merchant services provider wanted to charge me $5.00 per statement. I refused and told them to email it to me for free or make it available on line. Since they have done neither, I live without a statement, or I have to give in to their blackmail.
Go back to the days when we had a set, maximum interest amount that any financial lender can charge.
Have a central Federal agency that will advocate for the rights of consumers against these corporate criminals, and give them the power to fine these crooks substantially for any misdeeds, so it actually becomes MORE expensive for them to be crooks, then it is for them to be honest.
I have had an AMEX card since 1982 — that fact alone says our credit rating is very high since it has to be paid monthly. I am retired clergy and because of a very difficult year financially due to my wife’s ovarian cancer, a month ago I borrowed $500 of our AMEX credit limit of $30,000 to make my payment, a rarity, but since we would have a refund on taxes this month, not a bad choice. For one month of $500 the “interest” charged was $41.48 — 8.3% for ONE MONTH? I complained to no avail.
SUGGESTION: REINTRODUCE THE CONCEPT OF USURY — apparently an obsolescent word in these days of “low” interest rates!
This is small potatoes, but still: The desperation of the unemployed is being targeted by scammers. Charging registration fees for job fairs, paid interviews, fake job posts (implying there’s a salary, but there isn’t), exploitative night schools purporting to get you a profession, etc. — are rampant. Can this stuff at least be made illegal?
Where to begin. I have complaint to the FCC about mandatory internet service when buying a PDA mobile telephone, even when you don’t use the internet. Phones – why do companies appropriate a certain phone model. ALL phones should be available for the customer to buy regardless of which company one receives services from.
Mortgage loans – the fees, closing costs are exorbitant. Why are the banks allowed on top of the mortgage payment they are getting add to the expense of buying a house. The fact that your payment is going to pay the interest first is outrageous. The whole system makes it impossible for people to buy homes.
Credit cards – of course, very high interest rates.
Please help us with the following issues:
Credit rating services need to be revised to consider conditional and current state of economy. After years of near perfect credit it is incredible to be labeled uncredit worthy due to 3 late payments.
Stop the banks and credit cards from gauging the consumer; lower profits are not a bad thing if the backbone of the economy is being saddled with unreasonable fees and interest rates.
College cost and loans what right about being able to pay 20K a year and graduating to make 20K per year. Many kids suffer to make it work and parents are not able to help them. Costs need to be regulated – books, tuition and meals have outpaced inflation, why?
I just wish your agency could oversee insurance companies too!
A primary cause of the cueernt resession/depression was the “housing bubble”. A primary cause of that was the “mortgage industry”. You have to fix that for the good of the people. First, the people who have lost their home back into houses they can afford. Help them to be able to afford. Second, punish the people who cause the problem – people who knew what they were doing would cause a crash, but did nothing about it because they were making a lot of money (that they sheltered). Ald then the government made the peo9ple (tax-payers) pay those millionaires millions of more money. That was unconscienable. Fix it. Put the rich bastards in jai8l. Get money back from them. Help the middle class and poor people who suffered because of them.
Thanks.
I don’t like the 6 pages of legal mumbo jumbo that you have to “agree” to whenever you log on to a site or enter a contest.
WE NEED PROTECTION FROM COMPANIES SELLING OUR PERSONAL DATA WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION. INSTEAD OF HAVING TO OPT OUT, WE SHOULD HAVE TO OPT IN FOR COMPANIES TO EXPLOIT OUR DATA. I BUY FROM ONE CATALOGUE AND RECEIVE SEVERAL MORE SIMILAR OR UNRELATED CATALOGUES WHICH USE RESOURCES TO PRODUCE, SEND, ETC., OVERLOAD MY MAILBOX, AND REQUIRE ME TO STRUGGLE TO ELIMINATE. THANK YOU! YOU ARE APPRECIATED!
My wife bought a product from some company recently, paid for it with their credit card. She keeps getting billed for something she paid for and has reciept, and she has called several times cancelling the card, she also has emailed them, and she still bills her and has not cancelled the card. I am going to contact the state attorney general’s office and turn this un scroupules company in. Is there any advice that you would offer?
A consistent Security department that does not drop the ball
would help considerably.
They should do their own paper work and not throw the consumer in
a hole they do not belong in.
Especially if you are a victim of Identity fraud using their
services.
Hi Professor Warren,
My first suggestion is for you to take a deep breath. As an American Treasure we need you at the top of your game and I get the feeling you’re working just a tad too hard.
#2. i think we need a two paragraph (as opposed to two page) terms and conditions heads-up when it comes to credit cards. as for the plain language, I know what it is when I see it, but how does one codify that?
all the best of luck to you.
I strongly believe that credit card companies have way too much power. My husband & I went through a bad patch where we couldn’t make the minimum payments, although we continued to make some payment on all our debts. One credit card company, in particular, called us sometimes 3 and 4 times each day, but refused to set up a payment plan to help us. Their only offer was to set up a payment plan that would pay nearly twice the required minimum payment for 6 months! We are better now, but credit card companies must be reined in–I think reducing the cap on penalty interest rates would be the best way to help consumers dig their way out of debt.
It took 4 months to get a refinanced mortgage from Citimortgage, on a property on which they already held the original mortgage. Then they charged me the original interest for a month even though we closed before the end of the month, and the original interest is 2 1/2 % higher than the new rate. Then they didn’t send us a coupon to pay the mortgage payment. They said they would refund the interest rate difference (about $100), which they haven’t. Is this how all banks operate?
I am 73 years old and have in my livetime purchased and sold my residences. Selling one home, moving and buying a replacement.
I feel that the many additional fees that I have paid is a giant rip-off.
On each home I was forced to pay thousands of dollars to title companies which are unreasable. These companies only spend a few hours researching the properties and are responsible for making sure the homes are free to purchase.
I recently refinanced my home to obtain a lower interest rate and was forced to pay again (on the same home I have been living in the past four years) thousands of dollars to the title company.
I realize that these companies have to make a profit, but the amount charged is totally unrealistic. I feel robbed!
There are businesses that are taking the people that can least afford them to Bankruptcy or terribly bad credit history. Some of these are: Payday Lenders, Vehicle(Car)Title Lenders and Rent-A-Centers; who rent an array of merchandise from Furniture, Appliances, TV’s, Etc;…!! These Businesses should be Shut-Down or Regulated so heavily that they can’t afford to stay in Business!! They are LEECHES on the Low Income Class of this Country!! None of the provide a Service that makes Consumers Better Off!!
Congratulations MS Warren. But have some anti-hypertension and and tranquilizer drugs on hand for you will create enemies galore if you try to do what it is expected of you.
Credit card issuers and their ally executioner, the credit history bureaus, have terrorized our society with the tacit blessing of state and federal agencies alike. Free to roam, they have made the credit card reality a scenario for Steven Sbielberg. There is no reason to take Darwinian theories and use them to extinct some of us for others to flourish wrecking hell in our daily life. I could write a book of how creditors have manipulated common logic and the rules of mathematics to make money while eager to stick a label to our front for life despite some faintly applied laws. Good luck indeed.
No more Bank bailouts for the banksters please.
Push for a National Health Care System.
I wish merchants could offer discounts for cash or debit cards vs. their price for credit cards. I am not concerned about cc company fees. I want to see the market work and right now it is broken.
Why should we be forced to enter into two (2) year contracts with cell phone Companies and with cable tv companies. It’s impossible to get HD tv without a two year ageement . If a better offer comes up your charged a monthly penalty.
The credit card companies keep their best rates for the ones that can easily afford to pay more than the ones that may need to keep using them to keep their heads above water. Why don’t they have a caring soul? They don’t have to take every last dime that they can get you to pay because of your necessity. Don’t they feel the least bit guilty taking such huge interest since it was the citizen’s dollar that got them out of trouble for next to nothing.
Hello Ms. Warren, I have an excellent credit score and happen to get sick and tired of my phone/internet bill mishandling by my communication services company. Among other things they violated my contract by increasing my bills before the end of promotion date. Now they are threatening to report to credit agencies because I refuse to pay a disputed amount of $15. It is a ridiculous amount not worth a fight but our right and principles as consumers are violated. I would like you to tighten this free way that businesses have to report such matters into my credit report. It takes away from me all the hard work for long years to keep clean my excellent score. Thanks for your hard work
Hello, although we keep a zero balance on our credit cards, we still read the agreements and it feels to us that it is like we are dealing with the MAFIA when it comes to the terms these banks will apply should we falter or trip up in anyway. Legalized loan sharking is what we would call it, these people are criminals for the way they are squeezing their customers!
Thanks for taking up for the rest of the country that works hard for their money and is taken advantage of by very large companies. I would love to see you advocate and enforce rules that level the playing field between the big companies and those of us who are their employees until they lay us off. Thanks for representing us at the highest levels of business and government.
The legal system must be opened up to ordinary people of ordinary means. Any citizen must be able to bring an action against any corporation, its officers and board or any elected or appointed government official at any level of government including the supreme court judges. Price controls must be placed on all lawyers serving the people. All legal documents must be written in ordinary English with technical terms relegated to inessential footnotes. This is necessary because government at all levels and in all branches is corrupt having been purchased by wealthy vested interests. Indeed, for all practical purposes America is an ossified collection of vested interests not independent citizens. Aping the Egyptians and Libyans would be more efficient but we have become inured to the life of prey.
The credit card companies were acting like Mafia loan sharks. The latest changes in the law has helped somewhat, but the Supreme Court ruling that permits them to pass their own laws in states where they have “bought” the government, must be reversed so that each state can impose its laws on all local transactions.
I’d like to see consumer abuse by insurance companies investigated. I recently had my auto policy cancelled because my dependent daughter’s drivers license was suspended because I had forgotten to renew the registration! She was driving the car when stopped for the reg. violation. The car is titled to me. Her license was suspended because shortly after the traffic stop, she returned to college, and then forgot about the ticket. I realize that I brought this trouble onto myself, but it shouldn’t have resulted in a policy cancellation. I also like to the agency look into the practice of Ins. Co. using credit ratings to charge much higher rates to those who have poor credit ratings. Most auto insurance is provided as pay-as-you-go. Credit ratings can be ruined as a result of job loss and other extenuating circumstances. Credit ratings have nothing to do with driving behavior. Charging higher rates to those who can least afford them is just a form of legal usuary by the insurance industry. Thanks for your time.
Dear Ms. Warren,
I understand the law requiring Life Insurance companies to offer
a conversion from term life to whole life is uniform throughout the United States. It should be required of these companies to
inform policyholders annually, especially toward the end of term
coverage, of specific costs and election procedures.
Thank you for all your great efforts. Keep ‘em honest!
Very truly yours,
George E. Di Russo
Rewards cards are a money making racket for the banks. I get charged an extra 2% to process them, and the bank then passes on a 1% or miles or cash back to the customers. Meanwhile no one seems to notice the banks are making money, and everyone pays. Because if my bottom line increases by an average of a few percent, I have to raise the prices on my hand made goods.
Suze Orman has said the banks should be capped at 6% interest on debts. Will Consumers Union consider creating their own bank and offering such a card? A ban for the people, by the people. I’d use it.
MONEYGRAM: UNFAIR PRACTICE
I found a lost $100 Moneygram dated 2004. The MONEYBOX store where I bought it would not cash it last week, stating I had to contact MONEYGRAM because of the date. There is no related policy statement on the Moneygram or posted in the store.
MONEYGRAM was willing to cash it but will charge me a penalty of $0.27 per month for a total PENALTY of approx $27. They may charge me an additional $15 fee to create a new MONEYGRAM with which I can pay myself. This is a large net loss to me which seems unreasonable. If the money order had been for less, I might be completely out of pocket. It took the person on the phone less that a minute to look up the Moneygram in their system.
This extravagant penalty seems particularly excessive and somewhat contrived. This works both ways, they have had the free use of my $100 for 7 years.
Require credit card companies to credit any dispute that you forward to them within thirty days if they can not get a resolution to your issue.
Credit cards do not allow you to pay monthly bills ahead of time. You must pay within their narrow window or get a late charge or missing payment charge which increases you interest rate. You have to set up automatic online payments to get around this. This is unfair.
Bank of America is charging me a foriegn transaction fee for my medications from Canada, but the Pharmacy deals only in U.S. Dollars. I wasn’t charged anything extra on my last tip to Mexico…go figure
A friend of mine in his 50s had a mortgage on a mobile home from B of A. He had a balance around $10,000 on it. He got behind, got mail about it, called and was told NOT to PAY. So he didnt. SO, there were more exchanges as he tried to make things right. The final upshot was that they offered a settlement “with no fees or penalties” That left him owing $16,000 on the mobile home (but nothing in the penalty or fee lines. Further, there was left a HUGE escrow because the bank had taken all that he had paid to get right with them and put the money into escrow. They then said that the only thing the escrow could pay were taxes and insurance. There is sufficient in escrow for about ten years and his new payments are higher and a portion of each goes to escrow. He was so scared of foreclosure that he signed the papers against my advice and offer to talk with the County B of A mortgage office. Clearly slicing and dicing mortgages does not work. Clearly there is a great deal of foul play directed to people who have very little and are terrified of becoming homeless.
Credit card rates are as out of control as health care costs. Rates should have a cap.
Credit card companies should not be allowed to cut-off credit to a consumer because of something that appears on a credit report. I had a $30K plus limit on my CitiCard. I only had about $7K charged to it. My husband lost his job and we were in the process of a bank modification when one division of the bank reported us to the credit bureau for missing mortgage payments that another division had told us not to make until our modification was completed. Citibank sent me a letter lowering my credit limit to $7K, ruining my credit rating even further. I canceled my card and used part of our 401K to pay it off.
I had been a Citicard customer for over 20 years. I made payments above the minimum and on time. I had paid off large balances several times. The only reason the card was up to $7K was the loss of my husband’s job and lay-off of the next job (which paid a fraction of what his prior job paid). We, like so many people, had to live off of credit because his unemployment couldn’t feed or warm our family. We used all our savings to keep the mortgage timely. It finally got to the point where it was a choice of mortgage or food.
Either way, what happened with our mortgage had nothing to do with my Citicard account. They had no right to cut off my limit and hurt my credit record, which had been very high until the mortgage problem. We had no other outstanding bills or late payments and I was a good, long-term customer. None of that mattered to those money grubbing pigs. I was struggling and their executives made huge bonuses this past year. We bailed those pigs out, but they couldn’t give me a break! Not only is it infuriating, it is plain wrong. I could have understood if I had missed a payment or was not making my minimum, but that was not the case. They should not be allowed to do that anymore.
I’m concerned about my Chevron card because I believe their sub-contractor, GE Money in Atlanta is holding mailed payments to kick in “finance charge” but I can’t prove it. Is it possible to force Chevron to live with post-mark dates instead of “posting” dates? I know, I know: make Chevron do anything . . .
Dear Sirs, You need to reign in the credit card companies-banks who charge high interest rates while paying regular bank CD and savings accounts patheticly low interest rates on their savings. A major reason average americans have among the lowest savings rates in the world is the ludicrous low rate of return- interest on saving-cd accounts coupled with usury-loan shark style high rates on credit card and mortgage-car payment loans. You need to put a stop to exxcessive rate charged by banks that the states would prosecute at loan sharking-usury state laws enforcement. Federal legistlation& or controls on these national banking credit card banking interest charges are needed like the variuos states used to do against loan sharks usury law violators. Sincerely, Ed Mulrenan, Waterbury, Ct. 06704
Dear Ms. Warren,
The day you were chosen as America’s consumer finance czar was the day that I began to have some hope in our government. The banking industry is making their billions of profits on the backs of people and consumers like me; hard working, conscientious, and responsible. I am astounded and disturbed by the amount of interest the credit card companies can charge and though I have no one to blame but myself for turning to credit (to cover the cost of three family burials and home improvements) the proportion of principal to interest payment is, as you well know, robbery. For every monthly $600.00 payment I make, $400.00 in interest goes to Bank of America. Greed is alive and well in America; a value that is eroding the energy and vitality of our nation. I have followed your career and path for many years and have both admired and respected your work and efforts to confront the mighty and powerful banking industry. Thank you.
Mary Jo Harper
Truth in advertising, enforcement of regulations by Treasury department with Financial Corporations. Would be helpful to have a list of the pros and cons of what the Financial Corporations are selling and what to be aware of prior to getting involved with them.
Get rid of the fine print! Require that everything be printed in large print so we can read it without a magifying glass. Thank you. tom B.
Ms. Warren, I am glad that you’ll be taking up this issue. The day corporations were given the same status, rights and treatment under the law as individual human USA citizens was a sad day indeed. I hope that you will do what you’re able to, to protect persons from the monstrousities of our “corporate citizens.” Thank you.
Ms. Warren, I am glad that you’ll be taking up this issue. The day corporations were given the same status, rights and treatment under the law as individual human USA citizens was a sad day indeed. I hope that you will do what you’re able to, to protect persons from the monstrousities of our “corporate citizens.” Thank you.
Stand up for the people for a change and protect them from these greedy corporations and institutions always trying to fleece them for more and more money.
For too long, Americans did not have a successful advocate. Now, we have Elizabeth Warren. Elizabeth Warren is the perfect person, coming at the perfect time to correct the course of our nation.
Let’s stand strong beside her and become the proud nation we are destined to become. A nation of people who believe in Democracy for all! This is our birth right! Thank You Elizabeth Warren…..
Consumers who have lost their jobs, all or in part (furloughed workers, service workers, etc.) as the direct or indirect result of this Big Banks & Brokerages Panic of ’08 should have their credit ratings frozen as of their high water mark in 2007 or 2008 (this DEPRESSION began in 2007 for many). Consumers should not be penalized for the SINS of the Big Banks & Brokerages.
Being “late” or unable to pay because of laziness is one thing, but because of the loss of income as the result of Wall St’s Gambling Mania is quite another.
Last month I was less than 7 minutes late in paying a credit card bill “on time” for 2 reasons: 1) problems with the bank’s website, and 2) the “cut-off time” was 2 hours ahead of close of business in my state.
The bank’s credit card operation, located in South Dakota (not Citi, believe it or not) refused to erase their late fee because they had eliminated one for me in 2007!! They only grant 1 “courtesy” erasure for the LIFE of the Account!! Never have I heard of that.
Cut-off times should be 30 minutes AFTER the close of normal business in the accountholder’s state. (Many banks now credit deposits up until 8PM in the state of deposit!)
No “late fees” should be assessed unless several business days late – there is no cost to the consumer credit company as they are receiving high interest for each day the amount is unpaid. When they incur cost, then they are entitled to a “late fee”.
No due dates should be allowed to fall on Sundays or Holidays. And, if US Mail delivery is eliminated on Saturdays, due dates should not be allowed to fall on Saturdays either.
There needs to be a National Usury Rate. If South Dakota wants to allow Usurious rates to be charged on their own citizens, that could be one thing, but for the State to become a hiding place for Somalia Pirates thus penalizing the entire Nation is quite another.
The Mortgage Loan Modification (Disqualification) Program is a criminal enterprise! Because of the programs—I suspect written by the banks—there is NO incentive whatsoever to modify mortgage loans: the banks make FAR more money by foreclosure, and short sale, and then being “made whole” to the full amount of the problem loan by taxpayers through the Mortgage Loan “Modification/Disqualification” program.
These are the same criminals that created the crash (Yes, it WAS a crash) of our entire economy, and are now being compensated by their victims.
My business has made drastic steps to survive this disaster and continues to recover slowly from Wall Street and Banking’s irresponsible and criminal conduct. My wife’s business has also been similarly affected by the reckless and greed-driven conduct of our financial giants. We have been making our “”Trial Period Mortgage” payment to Wells Fargo established almost a year ago, and have not defaulted on ANY of our credit card or dredit accounts, and yet cannot get Wells Fargo to make the mortage loan modification that will permit out two small businesses to survive as taxpayers at this unprecedentedly critical time in our national economy catastrophe. They only delay.
This system needs a COMPLETE and IMMEDIATE OVERHAULl while there is still time—and the kind of supervison and regulation of it that was absent when Wall Street and the banks perpetrated the worlds greatest financial heist and got paid for it.
History is going to be incredibly hard on those at fault. But that does not help those of us trapped in this snake pit now who deserve and have earned a loan modification.
IMMEDIATELY CORRECT THE MORTAGE LOAN “MODIFICATION” PROGRAM!
MIchael K. Hmep
The History Company
I’m concerned about ads I hear on CBS radio news that suggest investing people’s IRA money in franchise businesses (unspecified businesses). They’re advertised as saving tax money but the people likely to respond may not realize that they are risking everything they’ve ever saved in an IRA.
I’m also worried about radio ads that invite people to join “this business” (also unspecified) and earn great money “starting next week.” Both types of ads may be legal, alas, but they are clearly meant for the uneducated and unsophisticated. Caveat emptor is an OK maxim if a person knows enough to beware, but our educational system does not emphasize personal finance, critical evaluation of ads, or other necessary things. So can your agency become a watchdog and require more explicit language and risk declarations in ads like this—print ads, TV ads, radio ads?
I recently paid a $9 bill to Menards. They gave me 15 days to pay. It was a day late and they charged me $20. I cut it up at their Service Counter.
THANK YOU AND CALL ON ME TO HELP!
SINGLE PAYER! JAIL FOR BANKSTERS!
CEO’s paid millions to cheat clients!!!
SEE WHY ALL THE FORECLOSURES!
Then spread it around!!! Write the pres.
MY HORROR STORY WITH INSURANCE LIES AND DECIET about OPEN MEDICAL AWARD, 32 YEARS STILL TRYING TO TAKE AWAY THE AWARD OF 1980, CA WCAB STOCKTON CA
COMES NOW APPLICANT NEIL STECKER, requesting the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board order the Defendant to provide chiropractic treatment to the Applicant issue an order to the defendants provide medical benefits in accordance with the Board’s orders dated February 23, 1980 and June 21, 1990.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
On December 2, 1978, in the course and scope of his employment with Defendant, Applicant sustained an injury to his back. The case went to trial wherein Judge Keigo Obata found that Applicant sustained a permanent disability. In addition to his permanent disability indemnity, Judge Obata specifically awarded Applicant future chiropractic treatment on an as needed basis. Defendant did not appeal Judge Obata’s decision or otherwise seek to amend or change the award.
Applicant reports that throughout the 1980s he had a running dispute with Defendant’s insurance carrier regarding his use of chiropractic treatment (Stecker decl.). That dispute came to a head in 1990 and was resolved by a Findings and Award dated June 21, 1990, wherein Judge Ernest Vivas found that Applicant did not sustain another non-industrial injury, he clearly benefited from chiropractic treatment and the level of treatment he was receiving was reasonable. Attached hereto as Exhibit 2 is a copy of Judge Vivas’ Findings and Award dated June 21, 1990. Once again the Defendant did not appeal the decision.
In or about the Spring of 2005, Applicant’s treating physician, Dr. Terry Setterquist, D.C. recommended Applicant continue to receive 4-5 chiropractic visits per month. Defendant sent Dr. Setterquist’s recommendation to their utilization review board wherein Dr. Edwin Kletzel recommended non-certification. As a result, Defendant stopped providing all chiropractic treatment to the Applicant.
ARGUMENTS
A. DEFENDANT IMPROPERLY TERMINATED APPLICANT’S AWARD THROUGH THEIR UTILIZATION REVIEW BOARD
Labor Code § 5302 states that “[a]ll orders, rules, findings, decisions, and awards of the appeals board shall be prima facie lawful and conclusively presumed to be reasonable and lawful, until and unless they are modified or set aside by the appeals board or upon a review by the courts within the time and in the manner specified in this division.”
Here, the board made its award in 1980 wherein they determined that the Applicant sustained a permanent disability and was entitled to future chiropractic treatment on as needed basis. It is important to note that the award specifies chiropractic treatment as opposed to a generic medical treatment. Attached hereto as Exhibit 1 is a copy of the Findings and Award dated December 23, 1980. Ten years later in 1990 the Defendant argued the amount of chiropractic treatment the Applicant was receiving was unreasonable. The board disagreed with the defendant and found that the Applicant’s treatment, which amounted to 52 annual visits but not necessarily weekly visits, was reasonable. In or about the Spring of 2005, the Applicant’s treating physician requested authorization to continue to provide chiropractic treatment 4-5 times per month. Defendant’s utilization review board concluded that no additional chiropractic treatment was necessary and discontinued paying for any treatment.
Defendant constructively terminated Applicant’s award without any authority to do so.
Res Judicata
The WCAB is a Constitutional court and its final decisions are given res judicata effect. Solari v. Atlas Universal 30 Cal.Rptr 407. Here the court has already determined that the Applicant is entitled to reasonable chiropractic treatment and that the amount of treatment he was receiving in 1990 was reasonable. For Defendants to come back now and terminate benefits and place the onus on the Applicant to prove his case is against public policy.
B. ACOEM GUIDELINES ARE INAPPLICABLE TO THIS CASE
Defendants terminated Applicant’s award based on the ACOEM guidelines and a document entitled Broadspire’s Physical Medicine Criteria for Low Back Strains. Attached hereto as Exhibit 3 is a copy of the April 20, 2005, letter from Broadspire to Jamie Parker, an employee of Broadspire outlining the determination of the utilization review board, wherein they determine that no additional chiropractic treatment was necessary.
The ACOEM guidelines do not apply to chronic pain conditions. Los Angeles Times v. Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (Herbinger) 70 Cal. Comp. Cases 504,506. In Herbinger the Applicant sustained an injury in September 1990 and a Findings and Award was made on January 30, 2003, awarding him permanent disability and future medical treatment. In July 2004, the Applicant sought reimbursement for home healthcare provided by his wife. Defendant denied his request because the ACOEM guidelines did not recommend such services. The court found that
the ACOEM guidelines are related to medical treatment within the first few days after the initial injury and four to six months thereafter. They are not applicable to chronic pain issues.
The facts in the case at bar are similar to those in Herbinger in that in both cases the Applicant sustained and injury over a decade ago and the defendant is applying the ACOEM guidelines. Based on the Herbinger decision, the ACOEM guidelines should not be used in this case.
Defendant’s denial letter is confusing to the layperson.
Labor Code § 4610 (g)(2) requires the employer to notify the treating physician and the employee of their decision to approve, modify, delay, or deny a request for authorization. Here, the applicant and treating physician are located in Minnesota and are not familiar with the rules and regulations of the California Workers’ Compensation system. At the time he received these communications applicant was not represented by counsel. Defendant Broadspire sent a denial letter, see Exhibit 3, addressed to one of their employees informing them that the request for treatment was denied. The treating doctor and applicant are copied on the letter but the document as written appears to suggest that the Broadspire employee is the one can appeal the utilization review decision.
CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing, it is clear that the defendant’s improperly terminated the applicant’s medical award and even if they did not, the use of the ACOEM guidelines in this case was improper.
WHEREFORE, Applicant prays for the following:
An order directing Defendant to resume reasonable chiropractic treatment;
An order directing Defendant to pay any and all outstanding chiropractic bills to include penalties and interest;
That all future chiropractic bills include a penalty
Reasonable attorneys’ fees in accordance with Labor Code § 4607
And any other relief the court deems reasonable.
Chapter 12: Low Back Complaints, Table 12-8, pages 308-310
so, what are you going to do with all the suggestions and complaints you collect?
its effective action what is needed and not blah, blah and paper shuffling.
when you were overseeing the TARP we were expecting reports as to where the dolars went.
however never were we really informed about what really happened.
how can we trust you now?
do you think you have enough testosterone for this job?
Investigate the relationship of the investment banks and the collection agencies. On a late payment that arose because of problems with the Chase credit card system on a debt of about $150 I was charged about $150 and Chase took a $70 credit for purchases. After five months of no follow-up, bullies called every day until the next monthly due date.
I am so happy that the administration found a way to get you in a possition of power.
However my fear is that your powers are only as strong as the congress has allowed them to be.So I am not without hesitation to put my full energies into the new bureau.
One of my main gripes is the feeling of being so powerless in the field of finance. financial institutions their lobbies and the polititians they bought hold sway over anything we consumers can do.
And possibly even you Ms Warren with all your smarts and good intentions, its been allowed to get too powerfull, to the extreme.
Too big to fail, is just another way of saying to powerful to fight.
I thank you for your efforts and will wait for the day you and your team along with the backing of our President can fully take charge of leveling the field for those of us whom cannot afford to buy a polititian or lease a lobby todo so.
Ann Downey
Laguna Hills, Ca
Keep up the good work. You’re one of the most trusted people in govt. I would say Washington, but that’s a low bar.
AT&T: Wants to help the environment or so I though! Then why do they force a recurring customer to accept their MYOB Kit @ $12 and will not let you return it to get credit on your account? Is this their way of funding political campaigns?
Protect businesses from credit card processing companies’ abuse of power. We the business owners keep the economy going and provide jobs and we are being bleed to death and cheated. Google campaints and include any credit card processing company’s name. Some results bring up 3 million hits!!!
Dear Liz,
Every time ther is instablity anywhere…Oil prices go up. It doesn’t matter if they are major supplies or not. Counsumers can’t take on big oil as a whole. But we can Boycott the one at a time. Like lets get Shell month,then Mobil/Exon/Cheveron Etc.
The time is right. People in Wisconson are saying ” We won’t accept the unacceptable” I think the Nation is ready to follow the example.
Now, credit card companies are holding payments for 7-10 days
they receit basically anything to the customer to give them
an excuse. But in reality, the banks are collecting the interest on this. Different excuses, the funds need to clear from your bank, any more than one payment per cycle gets a hold, I don’t know why this is happening. I have had HSBC pull this stuff and now Barclays, and I’m sure many more people experience this. If the banks are holding the money, then just pay the interest to us at our terms.
Wealthy bankers, many of whom should have gone to jail, got bailed out and therefore rewarded for their mistakes all at the expense of the tax paying residents. This has got to stop.
Ms. Warren, thank you so much for your efforts. One of my chief concerns is in food labeling. Right now, lots of ingredients are disguised or hidden within names like, “natural and artificial flavors” or “yeast extract”. Consumers should be fully informed of what they are putting inside their bodies, including Genetically Modified Organisms. These should all be clearly labeled in print that even someone with aging eyes can read. Thank you!
Texas Banks are largely predatory. They flip the order of transactions to maximize overdraft fees. This results in people paying more overdraft fees and getting hosed. See what you can do to stop this predatory practice.
Thanks,
Tim
I am a tax accountant. In Illinois residential real estate transactions, attorneys for the seller can charge an attorney’s fee AND collect a commission as an agent for the title insurance company. Over the last 10 or so years, as this practice of double dipping has become more prevalent, the cost of title insurance has far outpaced the rise in housing prices. There is little or no disclosure to the seller (or borrower) that the attorney is receiving compensation from the title insurance company and the seller is rarely advised that they have the right to choose the title company. The buyer’s lender’s policy premium has also increased significantly. In the several cases that I have looked into, I have found title insurance companies were more competitive. Isn’t this a conflict of interest issue? Title insurance company charges are one of the most expensive one-time charges in a real estate closing. I believe the consumer is being overcharged by hundreds and in many cases thousands of dollars. Take a look at title insurance company charges in other states. The wide variance among the states in rates per thousand dollar of valuation points to schemes where prices are being manipulated. What happened to free market economics?
We have sent wire transfers of money to our children Even though we use a credit union for these transactions I have been surprised at the charges for these transactions. There should be lower fees for this type of transaction.
Every stock trade on wall st & nasdaq should have to last at least one minute.
(levels the playing field)
You can start by allowing those of us with high student loan interest rates, mine is 7.5%, to refinance our federal loans just as those who have home mortgages do. I am 70 years old and will have to work until I’m 95 to pay off a 40k debt that has ballooned to over 62k thanks in large part to the interest rate and the inability to make enough money to pay $800/month payments.
You can also help with the confusing and illogical way credit report companies work. It is nearly impossible to reach a real live person to talk to, and why should we have to pay to get a credit score, instead of just a free credit report once a year? I’m still socked with a 25.99% interest rate with Dell and you can’t even get someone in America to talk to you if you have a problem with your Dell computer. This really stinks!!!
Please roll back the interest rates that they have jacked up while we waited for this legislation.
Back in the days of paper and stamps when all the work was done by hand, it was quite reasonable for banks to charge a fee for overdrafts or other errors that caused them to expend effort and resources.
In modern times when paper is used for making transactions it still causes an expenditure to accommodate errors. With the efficiencies of high speed processing this expense is minimal. In the case of electronic transactions there is no expense what so ever.
So why is there any fee at all for this service?
Eliminate or monitor internet services that advertise a service and then in small print rope you into their reoccuring membership fee that is automatically deducted fron your credit card or bank account .This can go on several months without notice and is very difficult to stop .Credit card acccount disputes rarely eliminate the deductions and the only way to stop the practice is to cancel the active account and reapply Both require vast amounts of time and effort to eliminate Broderline fraud
It’s about time we stopped the ridiculous “nit picking” fees that the credit card companies manage to “hit” us with by manipulating “loopholes” With interest rates on everything else in the single digits how can they possibly justify the rates that they are charging and then the ridiculous “penalties” when they change the terms, on THEIR terms and send it to us in the small print that is nearly impossible to wade through.
These fees have supported multi-million dollar bonuses for years. It time to stop it!
1 can of worms to think about: I submit to you, that due to outragious fees and or outragious interest rates, and sometimes hard to deal with, most of these payday advance/quick cash outfits, probably should be out lawed. they are a kind to loan sharks, so it seems to me.
Often repeated: Federalize interest rates on credit cards. Make one low card rate. Usury laws vary by State. Uniformity is needed.
Change the way banks process payments. They always process debits first at the end of the day, then credits. So, right now, if I have three checks that draw my balance below zero, but have also deposited a check on the same day to provide the funds to cover those checks, I still get hit with three NSF fees, despite the fact that my end of day balance never dropped below zero. It only dropped because they ran the debits prior to running the credits. I have had days where they ran 4 debits and hit me for $24 each time, a total of $96 in NSF fees despite my balance at the end of the day remaining positive.
Please protect co-signers on loans. We found out the loan was in default because we happened to have ordered a credit report showing the entry. Banks should be required to notify all signers on the loan when a loan becomes delinquent. We barely avoided a repossession.
What is a great stress factor is that emplyees of large corps, like Comcast, Verizon, etc, when you caontact them for a service and inquiry and or other things one person tell you what they regard as a fact that would influence your bills and then when in fact they do not honor that when a bill actully is sent, then the current poerson, disavows and knowledge or repsonsiblity for what was told to you/me and will not negociate on charges that another person has indicated would be adjusted. And no more room on late fee removal, even when the corp. is wrong. They don not care!
Credit report access should be unlimited all the time. When it comes to shopping mortgages for instance you have several companies that use credit reports for your financial info. The credit card companies then send you a letter stating that your rate is being increased because of to many queries on Trans union for example. Then they decrease your available credit then send you another letter that states your balance to credit available is to high. Then they close your account and increase the interest rate because of that.Anything they lost in the credit card reforms has been more than made up in the last 2 years. Higher rates, lower credit limits, closed accounts.
Bring back usury laws.
Force the banks to make more loans.
Encourage banks to work with people who are behind in their mortgage, but are trying to make minimim payments.
Ms. Warren, i am thrilled that you are enlisted to help the poor working person who likely is untrained in the world of finance. i have one little thought about what your bureay might do and that is to offer classes via our public library system that will help citizens understand the perils waiting for the unsuspecting citizen regarding credit cards, adjustable mortgages, school loans and so on and so forth. i love the libraries and have spent many hours educating myself of a variety of things courtesy of the taxes i have little choice of paying….at least i’m paying for MYSELF to learn things that will help me.
Any profit Wall Street or other banks and stock/bond traders make is taking money from working Americans. Derivatives and Credit Default Swaps as well as the mico-second trading are all gimmicks to rob the American People of their fruits of real productivity. There should be a tax on every trade and the banks profits should be highly taxed.
Prohibit banks from applying a annual fee if it did not have one when applied for. Make the maximum interest rate prime + a specifiec percentage so we don’t have 30% intererst rates. Allow people to pay interest only rather than have them lose their homes.
Reduce the amount that credit card banks can charge for a penalty fee, such as a late fee, from the $25 permitted under existing regulations to $10. Reduce the penalty fee level for a repeat incident from $35 to $15.
Limit the size of penalty interest rates to amounts that are “reasonable and proportional” The current rules only address the amounts of penalty fees, not penalty interest rate charges.
Rates should not be usurous…anything over 18% is just wrong.
I think you’re what we have long needed in government.
This is the complaint I filed with the NCUA:
On 2/20/2011 I purchased gas at a Circle K, using my debit card, in the amount of $12.84. Circle K received payment the same day, but placed a hold in the amount of $76.00 which lasted for 3 days.
I have since been informed by AzFCU that it is common practice to place two charges against a consumers account. The first charge is the collateral for lack of a better word, in this case $76.00. The second charge is for the actual amount of purchase, in this case, $12.84. The funds place on hold equaled just less than 6 times the amount I placed on my debit.
The $76.00 collateral for a debt already paid remained as a hold for three days. This situation caused me to show insufficient funds for an electronic transfer of my mortgage payment.
I’m dismayed that my financial institution allows this intrusive freeze of my funds to continue even with the proof that this debt of $12.84 had already been paid.
I also want to know why this activity is not reflected in the activity of my statement. This is my business and I resent that I am not being advised which companies place exorbitant and lengthy holds on my funds. As a consumer I would not patronize a business that was so unfair and this information is kept from me. I have a right to know which companies are placing holds on my funds and for how long.
All credit unions should not allow this abusive policy to continue or to let companies place a freeze on funds at the absurd level of 6 times the purchase.
All credit unions should disallow any hold on funds at the point at which the money is received by the vendor.
All credit unions should honestly reflect those holds placed on consumers accounts , for how long and this should be included in the monthly statement as an activity.
All credit unions should act as stewards of their investors financial rights by disallowing holds place on funds past the point of payment of the initial debt.
Starting March 1, 2011, my bank, Chase is starting to charge my checking account a fee of $10.00 per month for any current balance $500.00 or under! I am on a fixed income (SSI) and receive $929.00 per month! I imagine that this fee is one way the bank (which took over Washington Mutual)is recouping funds to pay back the stimulus money allocated by President Barack Obama! Again, the little guy pays for the big corporations and banks! I’m considered poverty level as it is!!! Who in God’s name can afford to keep $500.00+ in their checking account? Not me! There ought to be a law protecting the little guy! Does it surprise me?…NO! I’d ull my money out but I am mandated by law to have a direct deposit because of my monthly check from the government! If I don’t have a current bank account then I will not be able to get my check cashed without having to pay a fee! I can’t win for losing!!! How can you help me?
1. All companies should be required to advertise/disclose TOTAL fees. For example, my phone company offers me a $10.99/month rate, but in reality I pay $25/month after the taxes and regulatory fees, etc are added in.
I remember one long distance carrier charging me $3/month for not making long distance calls.
I feel the CPFB should act as an approval agency for all financial products being offered to the public consumer. Vis-a-vie, Reverse Mortgages, credit card products, etc. Financial Institutions should NOT be allowed to offer ANY products until cleared by review from the CPFB. I do not mean individual financial institutions applying for their instituition to offer these products, but any products offered must have been pre-approved by the Board as a standard for all products offered by any financial institution. This should help prevent the shameful actions that exists today at these institutions! Consumers should not have to have a “Best Practices” guide to own a credit card or any financial product.
One major corrupt expense that needs to be eliminated from all Real Estate purchases is the requirement by lenders for BOTH the seller and the buyer to purchase a Title Insurance policy. This of course is ridiculous because a SINGLE title insurance policy whether it is the Buyer or the Seller’s title insurance policy ensures that the property being purchased if free and clear of any liens, encumbrances, etc. Of course, the buyer’s title policy is always 2 – 3 times higher than the seller’s title policy. Mortgage Lenders should not be allowed to have both parties pay for the same policy which confirms the same thing. Since the majority of loans have this cost tied into their mortgages, this corrupt practice (in the long run) which simply benefits the lenders and title companies. Please work to eliminate this duplicated Title Insurance Requirement.
Another corrupt requirement is forcing property owners to pay PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) until they have 20% equity in their property. This ridiculous requirement needs to be lowered at least to 10% because once again it is solely a benefit to the mortgage lenders, no one else.
How about pushing for jail time for all the Wall Street thieves that trashed the economy and got away with it because our politically elected representatives are in bed with them? If we don’t this will happen again.
Just some common sense laws based on a $15,000 annual income. How would You want these establishments to treat you if this were your income level? Answer that question and use it as a basis for all activity.
Simple solution to Credit woes. Stop using it. Spending money we do not have has buried our nation and citizens in a swamp of intrest debt that insures increased wealth for the rich and poverty for the middle class and poor.
Our Bank TD will now charge ATM fees unless you withdraw from their ATM. Unfortunately, their only machines are in their Bank–not very convenient. Since they are charging $2 a transaction for our own money, they should give us that same return rate for the money they have of ours. This will make up for the inconvenience of getting our own money. e.g.2/100 is a 2% charge and we should get a 2% return on our checking. Use the average for the month of all transactions–that would be fair. I do not think they are looking for fair. I have a hard time understanding how they are charging us a fee for our money-not theirs??
Ms Warren:
I certainly welcome your role as watchdog of the Banking Industry, but don’t envy your challenge in dealing with the bank-friendly 111th Congress.
A question that emerges for me is why the banks pay less than 1% interest on CDs or savings accounts, while charging usurious rates for late payments and other so-called violations. Why are banks exempt from what ordinary folks have to deal with day to day?
Rates, rates, rates. We must require banks to offer credit at appropriate rates to the Treasury Rates. We should have legislation that prevents excessive interest rates on credit cards and limits ‘fees’ to reasonable amounts as well. We should legislate interest rates so that the rate paid for savings is at least 10% of the rate charged for credit. It’s hard to believe that back when banks couldn’t charge over 10% interest for credit they were able to pay 7-18% for savings and still be profitable, but now they are charging even good credit customers 10% to 25% while paying .025% for savings and complaining they can’t survive. Perhaps its the 150%-200% bounuses paid executives that’s the problem. Then rates on mortgages need to be clearly defined and closely monitored. All those ‘fees’ charged by the Title Companies and Loan Originating Banks are just creatively named smoke screens to increase the broekrages profit margins and have nothing to do with the realit of what it ‘costs’ to do the paperwork. Rates to originate and process a mortgage should be set and not treated like a shell game. Then, additionally, the rate of pay for workers in this country should be appropriate and not designed to only profit the Wall Street multimillionaires and the Corporate heads. Back in the 60′s the idea was that productivity increases due to automation would allow workers to spend less time at work making more money and getting more vacation to spend more time with thier families. Instead we now have a culture around latch key kids and working ‘poor’ parents who are just trying to make ends meet on 2 or more jobs. Where are the ‘family values’ in that?
How come banks are posting huge profits these days, but still pay less than 1% interest on savings accounts and CDs? I thought saving was a virtue to be encouraged. they have our money, but we don’t get any sort of reward for letting them use it.
We were contacted by Wells Fargo when our mortgage was late. We didn’t receive a statement in the mail. When I called about the matter, we were grilled about our finances, asked all kinds of personal questions and was only told our payment was late towards the end of the conversation. This is wrong.
When the U.S. Congress chose to interfere in contract law the in order to privledge the corporations over the public they changed the jurisdiction for that contract from the state where the contract was made to the state in which the corporation was headquartered in. This resulted in the public outside of that state being unaware of what the law concerning any contract actually was since they were only familiar with the law of their own state and totally ignorant of the law of the state that had jurisdiction over that contract. So every contract may have the laws of a different state being applied to each contract they enter into. It is therefore impossible for the public to know what law applies for every contract of all the corporations each headquartered in a different state. In other words, if the person entered into 50 contracts with 50 corporations each headquartered in a different state that individual would have to know all contract the law of every state and know what state had jurisdiction/corporation was headquartered in to know what often contradictory laws of the various states applied to each contract and somehow keep it straight which of those contridictory laws applied to each contract.
In addition, with that jurisdiction change congress ordered the effect and protection that local and/or laws of all other states put in place for the protection of the citizens of the various states were nullified, such as usury laws, allowing those corporations to charge unlimited interest simply by choosing a state for its headquarters that had no usury law literaly being able to write its own law underwhich it would operate limited only by the current laws or lack thereof from those of the various state as existed at that time.
Because of this it is my suggestion that, in order to prevent reinventing the wheel by generating rules independant of those that already exist in the various states, that the CFPB comb the laws of the states, determine which offers the most protection and simply apply those laws to all corporations that engage interstate commerce.
The interest rates are “loan sharking” rates. It should be no higher than 5 points above prime for good customers and 10 points above prime for bad customers.
I also would like to be able to deduct the credit card interest on my taxes. They are as high as my mortgage payments for the entire year times 5!!! This needs to be returned to the taxpayers.
I also would like to see extremely high penalties and criminal action against any bank, financial institution, etc. commiting fraud. The customers that were defrauded need to receive compensation just like under the RICO laws–loss times 3 is the payment for the defrauded customer.
Bank fees charged to move my deposited funds between accounts should not exceed, in the aggregate, the interest paid to me by the bank in these accounts. The bank pays meager amounts of interest to me to use my money as an aggregated part of their capital, but now charges me an inappropriate fee per transaction when they move money around in my linked accounts. There is no such thing as account linkage for overdraft protection available at a reasonable cost any more. This should be a service that banks are required to provide whose costs to the customer are related to the actual cost to the bank to provide. Instead it is now a profit center yielding out sized fees for minimal cost services.
To be sure you are doing great work….as for my recommendation….on all financial matters ask Brookley Born to advise you as to ways to limit and control the Banking end of your areas.
She and you are my Governmental Heros
BUD
I have two credtit cards that out of the blue went up to 29.99% Why is this. Credit card companies are getting by with muder. I was told by Capital one that Our government ordered all credit companies to raise their rates, is this true.
“Contracts” for dish T. V. states X amount for a subscription for so many years….Then in the middle of the contract raises the monthly cost of its equipment, even though it is the same equipment that was installed at the beginning of the contract. Isn,t a contract a contract that shound be honored by both sides? Namely the agreed mounthy amount.
As Seen on TV website uses pre-marked pop-up to get you buy membership to coupon company for 21.95 an month. It should be illegal for companies to pre-mark anything that is at an additional charge to the consumer on the internet. The only reason for a company to do that is because they are hoping to trick the consumer into agreeing to additional charges/services
EYE GLASSES business is a rip off. I usually buy Eye glasses from the asian countries where you get name brand imported frames and glasses – about half the price!
My recent experience, i took the online coupon from the leading eye glasses franchise in new york (buy one get one free) – we will honor that coupon if you buy one pair for $250 and reset you will pay for – ok price came out $900 after $250 discount. Tried to negotiate $50 additional discount and deal fell off. (Actually I was trying to use my FSA balance for the year end).
Two weeks later, I was in Dallas, TX, negotiated the EYE GLASSES buy and get one free deal with the similar frames and glasses (as seen in new york) I paid $450 for two pairs deliverd in new york.
Dear Dr. Warren, Congratulations and good luck. Please limit penalty interest rates and create a structure to allow consumers to get them lowered again. Make overdraft charges commensurate with the overdraft or set a minimum limit before they can be charged. PLEASE, since banks borrow money at such low rates stop them from charging obscene, usurious rates to consumers. Aside from being seemingly unfair (though legal and exemplary capitalism) this practice hurts the overall economy by severely limiting the available discretionary income that families have available to them which they might otherwise use to buy products, move the economy and put their neighbors to work. The banks get wealthier but the country and your and my fellow citizens are drowning. If a bank borrows money at 2% isn’t five or sixfold 10-12% sufficient profit?
1) Banks. Do not allow debits to process before credits. If the money is there, it’s there. No overdraft charges when the money to cover is actually at the institution.
2) Mortgages. a) All documentation to be in type at least 14 and double spaced, no more microtype. Written at high school reading level, not doctorate. b) Banks must offer modification when requested BEFORE defaulting on the mortgage. As the company my husband worked for closed 12/2009, he’s been out of work for over a year and is in retraining in another field and I was a recent graduate who graduated into a hiring freeze in my field, I requested six months ago for possible refi or modification. Denied refi as our income crashed due to his company cloing. Denied modification as we were still making payments and had not trashed our very good credit rating. Even if we had done so, there was no guarantee they would modify our mortgage until we can get on our feet financially. We have made all our payments on time at the sacrifice of other basics because we simply cannot afford the consequences otherwise. c)Address the housing bubble burst equity issue. We bought our first home in 2002, it is in a low income area, which at the time was all we could afford. Our house appraisal increased from $100,000 to $160,000 over the next 4-5 years, in that time we replaced the roof, windows and siding on our 100 year old house with loans. Now, thanks to the housing crash, we have over 900 forclosed, dilapidated homes in our area code alone. We have lost every drop of equity in our home and will be “underwater” for the rest of our lives – it will never come back to that level again. We cannot sell our house for anything near what it’s worth or what we need to cover the remaining debt. Unless the banks/mortgage companies adjust for the rapid inflation/deflation that has caught us regular joe’s flatfooted, who have done everything “right”, the few of us left will be walking away from our homes, which have now become a toxic investment instead of the American Dream.
3) Credit card companies. I firmly believe they are the financial devil of our times. I have only used mine throughout my life to pay for unexpected expenses like car repair, some higher education costs, a boiler replacement in January (very necessary in MN!), etc. I have always made my payments on time, minimum balance at least and usually more. I was their ideal customer. Then in the last 2 years, each one jacked my APR over 6% each, despite my excellent record, carrying some balance, no missed/late payments, all refusing to lower when requested. “It’s the economy, we need to offset for all those defaulting”. “This is now the lowest one we offer”. I have brought all my balances to zero except for 2, one I was able to request hardship aid for and they froze my rate in exchange for closing the card and automatic withdrawls. The other one I am still keeping open for emergencies until our income stabalizes again. Once it does, it will be history as well. My recommendations : a) no raising rates allowed without default/late payment b)all terms on an offer must be in readable type, not microtype and understandable at a high school reading level c) no changing rates based on what occurs on other accounts not affiliated with the credit card.
Liz Warren, I’m glad you were appointed to this post. You are a strong, intelligent woman and will hopefully be able to bring some ethics and morals back into this corrupt financial system. Good Luck, you’re going to need it.
Why was this mortgage modification plan created when the banks are not modifying loans? I have been trying to modify my mortgage for 2 years now, and I personally know several people who have been trying, with no success. Who is getting modified? I qualify for the home modification programs, but BANK OF AMERICA has continuously denied it. It is always one issue or another. I know I am not the only one, there are many with the same exact horror stories as mine, yet nothing is being done! I have called the Federal Trade Commission, HUD, my state’s Attorney General, and the Commission of Banking. They all know what the banks are doing is wrong, but they continue to let them get away with it. There are many of us that need help with this mortgage crisis!
Do something to regulate “payday loans”. It is obscene the way these “lenders”, read thieves, entangle poor folks in their web of weekly interest payments and horrible consequences. mlc
Return standard consumer protections, including bankruptcy protection, to student loan borrowers. I have massive, unmanageable, student loan debt from attending chiropractic college about 20 years ago and from the interest and fees on those loans. Like most people, who I went to school with, I could not make a living as a chiropractor. Current laws do not allow reasonable settlements on student loan debt. To make matters worse, HHS excluded me from participation in all Federal health care programs for defaulted HEAL loans from chiropractic college. This resulted me being fired from my job as a nurse and excludes me from employment in most nursing jobs. HHS also asked my state nursing board to invoke sanctions against me for the defaulted HEAL loans. I’m waiting to find out if action will be taken against my nursing license for chiropractic student loans.
Back in May 2009 I belived the advertising about a new plan that President Obama was supporting, or so I thought, and I contacted a BBB “A” rated company named Quicken Loans. This site advertises: “Obama Urges Refinance Now, $180,000 Refinance under $999/mo. See Rates – No Credit Check Required, on http://www.CalculateNew Payment.com. “ One enters the site and am confronted with the headline “US Treasury Bailout of Fannie and Freddy, Refinance with More Confidence, and there is a calculate new payment requirement using CalculateNewPayment.com. “ The person entering the site then fills out a series of forms that contain personal information including our social security numbers.
I was then contacted by the representative Abbey Wrysch, whose title is Executive Mortgage Banker-President’s Club, for Quicken Loans. She was my first contact. After quite a few discussions online and on the telephone Abbey Wrysch hurriedly pushed for me to go online and electronically sign contracts. In Abbey Wrysch’s own words: “I can’t provide a good faith estimate until I accept your application. Once I receive your application I will have an approval including a full set of loan documents within an hour. Let me know when you are ready….” In this way she stated that if I do not do this she could not “lock in the lowest interest on record.” She led me to the page and guided me to the place where to click to electronically sign the forms. I was told that there would be no more than about $3500 for ALL fees (in her words: “The closing costs based off of county specifics are $3429.00. This is a high side estimate.”). She promised that I would be able to pay off all my credit card debt (one of the reason for applying), and that I would be given a “cash out” amount of $25,000. The credit card debt was NOT to be a part of the “cash out” but in addition to this amount. I should have known that signing papers before a good faith estimate is a red light! Only this is new to me and I was, and am, desperate to resolve my credit card problems.
After I rushed to sign the paperwork and gave Abbey my credit card information, I mentioned I have no idea if the CITIBANK would honor the card since (like with all my cards) I am maxed out. On the Good Faith Estimate that I signed, which was not the estimate returned to me, it was marked that there was ZERO amount required for the deposit. See Quicken Loan #1 to see this in writing. On the document I signed the deposit of $0 and this was changed to $500 after signing and returned to me. So what I signed and what I received were different. I even remarked about how kind I thought they were not charging me the deposit, thinking they would somehow roll this into the actual loan? Here are the words I used in my correspondence to Abbey Wrysch sent: Sat May 02 01:03:35 2009: “Thank you for waving the deposit.” I do not have a copy of the original set of documents I signed, instead I have a set that has been altered, and without this evidence – what I must do is eat the truth. This message was the one when I set out the discrepancies.
Then a real estate friend of mine looked at the papers he said what she promised is not in the Good Faith Agreement that I signed. Abbey Wrysch kept pointing out that I would put in my pocket about $900 a month. My friend said her words and the figures do not add up. He said “I wish I had come to help you before now. This is outrageous since it is $7500 more expensive and there is NO cash out.”
The fact of the matter is I was scammed out of $500 that I could ill afford to pay, and even though they agreed to close the loan and offered no service, they ran a $500 “deposit” through my credit card and took payment. These are the documents I now have in my file that they sent me.
I have tried various avenues to address this problem and have been left in greater need than before I started this process.
From a former employee: http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/quicken-loans-c243803.html
In the section: “Allow me to give you a little peak behind the curtain of what I was witness to during my time at Quicken Loans:”
The last item is:
“-requirement of $500 deposit taken by credit/debit card only in order to even start the loan application process. Huge revenue generator for Quicken Loans. Positioned as a “Good Faith Deposit” but try getting this refunded in “good faith” if you decide to change your mind.’
http://quicken-loans.pissedconsumer.com/once-again-quicken-loans-ripping-people-off-20080721128293.html
http://quicken-loans.pissedconsumer.com/
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/quicken_loans_mortgage.html
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/quicken-loans-c282853.html
Citibank honored the $500 deposit for Quicken Loans, made no attempt to contact me, and when I contacted them they chose to place me into a vicious financial cycle that I struggling with daily since May 2009. The trap is formidable since I live paycheck to pay check like with most Americans in a tough economy. The way the customer is handled is more like a slave than a customer, since when in trouble every company uses the same lame excuses, and heaps fees upon fees as if being poor is the worst crime one can commit in America! They knock us down and effectively kick us in the face.
Every card and utility company uses the same model with the same perverted rules in which are designed to generate profits at the expense of the American middle class and poor. When poor folk are in trouble the banks make sure they get the same fees and interest that other companies do, which has the affect of pushing desperate people to either bankruptcy, or the worst scenario – the street. This system is the new slavery of the 21st century. Like with past slavery, this indentures our children and our children’s children for many generations to come if this is not solved.
The companies that have taken the same anti-American path are: Chase, Home Depot, Lowe’s, FIA Cards, Pay Pal, Verizon, PECO, PGW, indeed all companies have the same agenda. All credit card companies have been heaping more fees onto the amount I owe and raising interest rates. One is about 30%, the others not too far below. With FIA (ironically a union based card), whose APR is now the highest (close to 30%); I found that I would need to pay $700 a month. I plan to pay $500 (possibly more) this next pay on Friday. I can never catch up since the interest is through the roof. An example of the type of problem I encountered with a utility company is with a payment plan with PECO where they demanded about $300 (maybe more?) from me since my payment was past due, when in fact my utility usage was about $50. They charged me late fees and reported me to the credit agency. When I stopped the plan and paid the full amount along with the fees I did not owe any money for a few months. In spite of my overage they said if I did not pay the full amount due I was scheduled to have my electricity turned off.
I have taken on another job, part time so it comes and goes, and volunteer for any extra hours I can and I still cannot make all my payments. I have had to pay bills and often forgo eating for days. When I tell the credit card companies that I cannot eat and that money doesn’t come from a credit card fairy – their response is to borrow from family, which I do not have. I forgot to mention I am a cultural worker (instructor) working for the Art Institute of Philadelphia, which is owned by none other than Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Since I have signed a non-disclosure contract I cannot go into what happens at work or the way that I am paid. I am 62 going on 63, have had a heart attack and suffer from heart disease, and stress is a factor that brought on the condition. I should be at retirement age – yet this is not possible while I am in the clutches of the banks vicious cycle.
Then there is my retirement fund with Fidelity, another bank, and due to aggressive planning my 401K has almost recouped the amount lost during the crash. I only lost $97,000. Now here is the next problem, I have enough money in my 401K to pay off the $23,000 that would put me back on my feet, yet I do not qualify for a loan. What is available to me is a hardship withdrawal in which I do not qualify. The requirements are: eviction or foreclosure, medical expenses (hospital related), purchase of primary residence, post secondary expenses, casualty or loss (damage) of principle residence, and burial expenses. I can only touch the money if I die, retire, am fired, or are permanently injured and cannot work. Let me take the hardship withdrawal first. I pay my secured loans like mortgage payments first, so I do not anticipate any foreclosure. I have insurance at work so medical coverage is not an issue. I wish I had known I could use money to pay for part of my residence, as it is I paid from my saving. I now have no savings and had to deplete my Roth IRA. Concerning post secondary expenses I have already attended graduate school and still owe quite a bit, yet like the mortgage payment, this does not qualify for the withdrawal. I do not live in a terrible area, so loss and damage are relatively rare. And I do not expect to die anytime soon – so that possibility is out. So here is the problem, while paying all the bills starting in May I have had months that my salary was so low I was not eating days at a time while trying to pay my bills. So if my mortgage payments combined are $925.70 and my net pay is $796.53 there is a problem. I am paid bi-monthly. This is when I was assigned my second job teaching online and my constantly trying to find additional hours. We are paid by the hour in our classrooms and not by the course as are common in most colleges and universities. So during this difficult pay cycle I tried to obtain partial unemployment and found that was problematic since the authorities did not understand how I was paid and denied my claim. I received a flyer in my mail where Senator Farnese was soliciting community contact with their issues. So I contacted his office concerning my unemployment issue and Bob Theil (whom works for Senator Farnese) contacted me and then straightened out the problem so I could receive entitlement money during my darkest hour. Not wishing to abuse the system I only took a few weeks worth of payment until my second part time job kicked in. I have had to do this again, and the company that I work for gave me the run around, after cutting my hours again and it was only by contacting the senator again that i was able to receive partial unemployment.
During the past few months the hunger pains are difficult to endure since often my students felt comfortable to eat in front of me. This is torture. I talked with the officials of all the banks and it seems that starvation is not an excuse to make allowances.
I do not know what the future holds and am hanging on by a thread. This is my story, and I am intelligent and have found myself in this place. Every professor and student and neighbor I talk with have had similar battles with various regulatory agencies and companies, like today a teacher was talking to me about how Comcast changed very little going into their contract and $300 to leave. This has thrown this man’s financial situation in the toilet since he was not told about this expense and now he cannot put food on his table. The corporations and businesses are launching an all out assault against the American people and it is their desire to make us slaves to a debt cycle and in my mind this is EVIL and simply must stop. I am not alone and realize that in RIPOFF REPORTS this type of treatment is common. Now with the GOP trying to break the unions the chances of getting jobs is lessened and only the rich are benefited. The stupid people that do not get this due to poor education and watching FOX NEWS could lead to greater poverty of the poor and a shrinking middle class. We nave been suckers and we need to have a plan that will help us get out.
When a bank closes a credit card account, not because of our credit history with them, but because the credit report is unfavorable for a period of time, then they need to also stop charging their inflated interest. They also should be stopped from using our credit report to determine our credit worthiness if we have never paid them any late payment. I had all the credit cards raise my interest (sometimes double the APR), lower my credit (without contacting me), and no matter how positive my score is refuse to offer me credit. The bank that lowered my credit score was my first one to discharge – they were B of A and no matter what I paid them they were not happy. They own FIA Credit Services which is the credit card from Hell. I am paying off all these blood suckers one by one but stopping their 30% interest when they refuse credit is reasonable and the responsible thing to do. Big banks are neither reasonable nor are they responsible.
Resources for student loan victims at Student Loan Justice California.
http://groups.google.com/group/student-loan-justice-california
The United States Department of Education and it’s attorneys, the US Department of Justice, have been scapegoating innocent student borrowers through the student loan scam. Students deserve to have basic consumer rights just like most other citizens. Bankruptcy protection, caps on amounts and statutes of limitations. Sallie Mae scammed student borrowers by charging double and triple the principal borrowed, including compounding interest on what was deceptively called financial aid. The US Dept of Justice actually fights defenseless bankrupt students adding insult to injury, forcing them through demoralizing adversary proceedings when they have no attorney. The US Dept of Justice should be helping victims not punishing them further as scapegoats. Citizens get their social security and disability garnished after a lifetime of torment, it’s unconstitutional.
I would like to have a regulation/law that prevented a mortgage lender from holding any extra/partial payments toward the principal on a home loan from waiting until the payment date to credit that payment. I have tried to make payments on my mortgage on a bi-monthly basis instead of waiting a whole month between payments to realize a substantial saving of interest charges, but my mortgage lender holds the partial payment until the whole monthly amount is received before applying any of the payments.
This is just not right. I am assuming that this is not already illegal.
Thanks.
Several years ago,I fell into the multiple credit card morass and was unable to keep the minimum payments up for all of them.
After reducing my “credit line available” to $0.00, and closing the account, one of these companies had the affronery to charge me an “over the limit” charge,which drove up the minimum due very substantially each month for that card and made it all but impossible to catch up.I had to ruin my credit rating by accepting some kind of buy out from them to get them off my back. I hope this type situation is no longer legal, it certainly isn’t ethical!
Yes,I was wrong for having generated that much debt. But it seems to me that the company was even more wrong by helping me to put the fire out by their throwing gasoline instead of water on it.
Of course the other companies I still had an acount with used the opportunity to jack my interest rates up. And they’re still high-several years later.
Thank You
Dear Ms. Warren, I am so glad you are part of the administration. You are a GEM amidst FOOLS GOLD! You should run for president and Brooksley Borne for VP! I think a woman is better suited for the position. Anyway, shouldn’t banks be giving us the same interest rate for the money we put in savings as the money we borrow from the banks? Wouldn’t that be a good deal? Is that too unrealistic? After all they do use our money for their purposes. Also, I think all TOO BIG TO FAIL BANKS should never be rescued with bailouts ever, again. They should fail and let the smaller banks takeover!
The BIGGEST STICK UP in history still goes overlooked and unpunished. People have stopped asking and protesting about all the money that Wall Street financiers gobbled up. The PEOPLE have short term memory with each new distraction. THE FINANCIAL CRISIS CAUSED BY WALL STREET SPECULATORS is used as an excuse to impose devastating cuts to OUR public services. They intend to shift the tax burden even further away from major corporations and onto the rest of us. The WEALTHY few who caused the financial crisis are the ones who should PAY for it. Yet, not one has gone to jail, while the rest of Americans continue to pay dearly! I suspect that the Supreme Court ruling in 2010, that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run our government has put the final nail in the coffin. The social class divide will be even wider.
They’ve gone after our tax dollars. Our public services. Our jobs. Our schools. Our votes. Our future. Our freedoms. And the federal courts have helped them every step of the way. Where is the PEOPLES SAFETY NET? I thank you for helping to reign in the crookedness of the financial industry!
I suggest requiring any credit card payments due, creditor leave a message on phone and/or email that payment is due a week prior to when it is due.