An old ticket-price tactic for airlines may make a surprise comeback, thanks to proposed legislation. This is the third time in five years that the airline industry and its surrogates in Congress have tried to jettison the full-fare advertising rule, formerly known as the Transparent Airfares Act. Read More ›

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau put out a Request for Information (RFI) asking for public input on its consumer inquiry and complaint database. To consumer advocates, the RFI is just the latest evidence that the CFPB’s Director Mick Mulvaney will change the way the Bureau treats complaints, possibly making the CFPB’s database of complaints private and not visible to the public. Read More ›

The crooks use the information to file bogus tax returns — or sell it on the so-called Dark Net. In some cases, the fraudsters asked for a wire transfer after receiving the employees’ information. Read More ›

In the aftermath of the October wildfires that swept across the North Bay, several victims were found dead where their garages once stood. While garage door motors can be disconnected to open the doors manually, many people, especially seniors or those with heavy wooden doors, find it impossible to do so. Read More ›

The measure would place a $2-billion bond on the November ballot to fund the remediation of lead paint, mold, asbestos and other environmental dangers in homes, schools and senior citizen facilities. The initiative also would reverse a November state appeals court decision requiring three paint companies to shell out hundreds of millions of dollars for lead paint abatement. It also aims to block future lawsuits against the paint companies for similar claims. Read More ›

Legal weed, salary history, parental leave, minimum wages. Hundreds of new California laws took effect Monday with the beginning of the new year. For consumers, some are real standouts. Read More ›

For both Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, retailers know that shoppers love a bargain, so the bigger the savings they can claim, the more sales they will likely ring up. Telling shoppers they can save hundreds of dollars by buying now is potent advertising. Read More ›

A consumer group is urging major retailers to withdraw a number of “connected” toys likely to be popular at Christmas, after finding security failures that it warns could put children’s safety at risk. With each of these toys, the Bluetooth connection had not been secured, meaning the researcher did not need a password, pin or any other authentication to gain access. Little technical know-how was needed to hack into the toys to start sharing messages with a child. Read More ›

The Federal Communications Commission will vote Dec. 14 on a plan to undo the landmark 2015 rules that had placed Internet service providers under the strictest-ever regulatory oversight. The vote is expected to repeal so-called net neutrality rules, which prevent broadband companies from slowing down or blocking any sites or apps, or otherwise deciding what content gets to users faster. Read More ›

For the first time in half a decade, the rate of education loan defaults among recent college students has risen, highlighting the struggle many recent graduates face when it comes to paying their educational debts. The default rate remained steady for students who had enrolled in public schools, while it increased for students at private and for-profit colleges. Read More ›