On the surface, it seems unfathomable, unethical: the idea that any lender would loan money without first evaluating the applicant’s ability to repay. Yet it happens. Student loans are a prime example. Another example is Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loans. Lack of concern about credit history on the part of the lender isn’t the only thing that PACE loans have in common with student loans. Both are also Read More

Extreme weather can result in extensive property damage. In the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey ,Irma, and now Maria, tens of thousands of people have had their cars damaged by flooding, resulting in a frustrating situation that can create a major headache for future car owners too. Here’s why. The Post-Flood Process After the flood, the owner reports their damaged vehicle to the insurance company, which Read More

You really need a new car but your credit isn’t the greatest. Therefore, your relief is enormous when the dealer pushes a sales contract across the desk towards you. You sign it and take the car home, but several days later, the dealer calls to advise that the financing fell through and you have to either return the car or sign a new agreement at a much higher interest rate. This is a bait and switch tactic known Read More

In Kansas, there are several laws in place to protect consumers who buy a used car, only to get less than what the seller promised. Some of these laws are federal regulations while others are state-specific. The Federal Trade Commission's Used Car Rule is an example of the former. It applies to all motor vehicles, including but not limited to: Leased cars Demonstration cars Light-duty vans and Read More

When you want to know the mileage of a vehicle, especially a used one that you’re thinking about purchasing, you rely on what its odometer tells you. But what if an unscrupulous dealer or seller tampers with the odometer and makes you believe that the car you’re buying is “younger” by several miles? Also known as “busting miles,” odometer fraud is the illegal practice of rolling an odometer back to make it appear Read More

Most of us have been in this situation: We decide to buy a product, and at the checkout counter, the cashier asks if we want to purchase an extended service contract for it. Or perhaps we get a call from a telemarketer not long after the purchase, asking if we want to buy such a contract. Or perhaps we are sold an “extended warranty” on that used car so we can buy some peace of mind in case there is a mechanical Read More

Recently, you may have heard of a significant outage involving consumers using RushCard (provided by UniRush, and backed by Russell Simmons) whereby individuals could not access their funds. For consumers trying to pay rent and buy food, it was a significant hardship. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced an investigation into RushCard and UniRush back in 2015.  On February 1, 2017, Unirush LLC Read More

Consumers purchasing a used car may be deceived by an automobile dealer in a number of ways.  No doubt, various forms of automobile fraud, or “auto fraud”, are on the rise all over the country as many Americans struggle to find reliable transportation.  Unfortunately, an area of automobile fraud that is incredibly deceptive to consumers is the sale of a so-called “Certified Pre-Owned Vehicle” appears to be on the Read More

Arguably the biggest example of a whistleblower in recent memory is that of Edward Snowden, the former NSA employee who exposed the government’s questionable data collection habits. If you have reason to believe that your employer is doing any of the following, you may feel obligated to report them to the appropriate authorities: Breaking the law Violating government and / or industry rules or regulations Read More

It’s a revelation that has enraged consumers and consumer advocates alike. Since at least 2011, Wells Fargo has been surreptitiously opening millions of fraudulent deposit and credit card accounts in the names of existing customers. The reason? Pressured to meet quotas that called for Wells Fargo clients to have multiple banking products, employees started opening new accounts without client permission or knowledge. Read More