State regulators and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. have revived a $3 million settlement over the utility’s failure to produce gas-pipeline safety records after the San Bruno disaster – a fine that critics of the company denounced as too lenient. Read More ›

Rosemary Shahan, president of the consumer group, says, “It’s unprecedented for a major rental car company to actively support a new federal law that would require the industry to ground unsafe, recalled cars until they’re fixed.”
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Google and several other advertising companies are bypassing the privacy settings in Apple’s Safari browser, according to a report from a Stanford University researcher that set off a heated debate on Friday. Read More ›

…for-profit colleges have the highest share of students who default on their student loans. The sector enrolls 1 in 10 college students in California, but receives more Cal Grant dollars from the state than all the community colleges combined. Read More ›

Thousands of Californians have lost their homes during the housing crisis, wreaking havoc on families, as well as state and local government property tax revenue. But there is an inexpensive solution, according to a report released last week by the National Consumer Law Center. Read More ›

An audit of hundreds of foreclosures in San Francisco uncovered “one or more irregularities” in 99 percent of the loans, according to a study released Wednesday by the city’s assessor-recorder, Phil Ting.
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Better Disclosures: With this rule, remittance transfer providers must generally disclose the exchange rate, any fees related to the remittance, the amount of money that will be delivered abroad, and the date the money will be available. Read More ›

Kamala D. Harris, the attorney general of California, could have derailed a nationwide settlement with big banks over home foreclosure abuses when she walked out of talks last September. Read More ›

…digital rights activists might now be turning their attention to a lesser-noticed bill aimed at requiring Internet companies to store identifying information about their customers. Read More ›

We hope this scorecard can help Californians evaluate whether their lawmakers voted on behalf of their interests when it comes to issues that affect their pocketbooks, privacy, and health and safety, but often get little news coverage. Read More ›

A state lawmaker who represents the San Bruno neighborhood devastated by a natural-gas explosion in 2010 introduced a package of bills Monday designed to prevent a repeat of the disaster, including one that would tie Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s rates to its safety performance. Read More ›

Auto title loans are a last resort. Borrowers, some of them illegal immigrants, give the titles to their cars in exchange for loans for the value of their cars, less the potential cost of repossession and profit for a lender. Read More ›