Bank Fees Survey Mid-2014: Fees Hit New Highs
by Richard Barrington, MoneyRates.com
A new survey of checking account fees finds that average fees rose to new heights across a number of categories so far in 2014. However, it’s a notably different world if you look at online-based checking accounts and those serviced by a traditional branch network. The average monthly fee for an online account is $8.61, compared to $12.95 for a traditional checking account – and online banks are far less likely to even charge such fees. Big banks are where customers are likely to find the highest costs. Read More ›
Flame retardant bill wins important industry support
by Gary Cohn, Capital & Main
Furniture makers switched sides on SB 1019 after state Sen. Mark Leno agreed to clarify the definition of flame retardants. It’s still bitterly opposed by the chemical industry, whose campaign against regulation and public disclosure of flame-retardant chemicals is reminiscent of Big Tobacco’s fight against government controls. “The fact is that flame retardants have not been found to improve fire safety in our furniture and SB 1019 would provide consumers with truth-in-labeling for the first time,” said Judy Levin, pollution prevention co-director at the Oakland-based Center for Environmental Health. Read More ›
SB 1256: Brown Signs Curb On Medical Credit Scams
Health care patients would no longer be subject to exorbitant third-party credit charges arranged without their full knowledge and informed consent under a Consumer Federation of California-sponsored bill that passed a unanimous state Senate floor vote on Thursday, May 15, 2014. Read More ›
DOJ finally confirms record-setting $16.65B settlement with BofA
by Chris Morran, Consumerist
The settlement coming out of BofA’s involvement in the housing market’s collapse exceeds last year’s deal with JPMorgan Chase as the largest in U.S. history. Consumers will see $7 billion in relief, including principal reduction loan modifications; new loans to credit-worthy borrowers struggling to get a loan; assistance to communities recovering from the financial crisis; and financing for affordable rental housing. The settlement also required BofA to concede that it originated risky mortgage loans and made misrepresentations about the quality of those loans. Read More ›
Consumer group calls for FDA action on generic Nexium
Contact: Richard Holober / Brian Taylor [CFC press release:] The nonprofit advocacy organization Consumer Federation of California (CFC) is calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to save American consumers three billion dollars a year by ending a bottleneck that is keeping affordable, generic versions … Read More ›
NHTSA launches online search tool so consumers can find out for themselves if a vehicle has been recalled
by Ashlee Kieler, Consumerist
A new online search tool from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration aims to help consumers determine if their vehicles are among the more than 46 million recalled so far this year. Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, encourages consumers to use the tool before purchasing a vehicle, but she notes the system is only in English and only available online. It’s illegal to sell recalled products like microwaves and blenders, but there’s no similar law for recalled vehicles. Read More ›
Ban on spying on rental computer customers awaits governor’s signature
A measure sponsored by the Consumer Federation of California to protect consumer privacy by restricting the use of spyware on rented computers is headed to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk following a 36-0 vote in the state Senate Aug. 18 and Assembly concurrence in Senate amendments today. Assembly … Read More ›
PG&E pleads not guilty in gas explosion case; San Bruno demands PUC preserve computer drives
by George Avalos, San Jose Mercury News
The 2010 natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno killed eight people. PG&E is charged with 28 federal criminal counts, including obstruction of justice for allegedly impeding an investigation into the explosion and safety violations that led to the explosion, San Bruno officials are concerned that key electronic and paper documents could vanish. The utility faces a fine of up to $1.13 billion if convicted. Read More ›
Indictments in Petaluma case of contaminated beef
by Henry K. Lee, San Francisco Chronicle
A federal grand jury charged officials at a slaughterhouse linked to a massive recall with selling sick cows. Rancho Feeding Corp. stopped operating the slaughterhouse after a recall of a year’s worth of meat – 8.7 million pounds – that had been processed from diseased and unhealthy animals without a full federal inspection. Between 2013 and 2014, the plant processed and distributed meat from 101 condemned cattle and 79 cows that had been infected with eye cancer, the indictment said. The animals’ heads were chopped off so inspectors couldn’t detect the disease. Read More ›
PUC’s invitation reads like PG&E’s language
by Jaxon Van Derbeken, San Francisco Chronicle
PG&E organized a gas safety conference last year to be held under the banner of the CPUC. Documents provide the best evidence yet of an overly cozy relationship between PG&E and the CPUC, which will decide within the next two months whether to fine the company as much as $2.5 billion for the September 2010 gas-pipeline explosion that killed eight people in San Bruno. San Bruno City Manager Connie Jackson said the e-mails were “more than shocking. … They show PG&E and not the PUC was the mastermind behind this symposium.” Read More ›
Insurance mandates for Uber inch ahead in Legislature
by Cheryl Miller, The Recorder (San Francisco)
AB 2293 would require ride-share drivers to carry insurance providing $750,000 in coverage when they’re waiting to be matched with a passenger. The Senate Appropriations Committee said it would drop that to $300,000. But it also said it would force transportation network companies to provide $1 million in liability coverage to cover damages above a driver’s limits. The state Public Utilities Commission is weighing its own insurance requirements for TNCs. A hearing on the issue scheduled for Thursday was delayed until Aug. 28. Read More ›
As data overflows online, researchers grapple with ethics
by Vindu Goel, The New York Times
Facebook manipulated the news feeds of nearly 700,000 people to learn how the changes affected their emotions. When the research was published, the outrage was immediate. Now university and corporate researchers are grappling with how to create ethical guidelines for this kind of research. “Consumers should be in the driver’s seat when it comes to their data,” said Edith Ramirez, chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission, which regulates on issues like privacy and the Internet. “They don’t want to be left in the dark and they don’t want to be surprised at how it’s used.” Read More ›
Automotive safety agency slow to open investigations
by The Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle
The Associated Press reviewed all 15 petitions filed by drivers with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration since 2010 and found the agency missed the legal deadline to grant or deny the requests 12 times. The agency has been criticized for failing to connect the dots among thousands of consumer complaints it received last decade about small GM cars with defective ignition switches. GM finally recalled the cars this year. The faulty switches have been linked to at least 13 deaths. Read More ›