News

2022

September

22

• Air passengers could see sweeping reforms and easier refunds. After decades of laissez-faire enforcement, the Department of Transportation is proposing changes to clarify the vague language airlines use to determine “significant delays,” potentially helping passengers receive refunds or vouchers more efficiently. Under

01

• Bank of America tests no-down-payment mortgages for minorities. Bank of America Corp. started a trial program aimed at helping first-time homebuyers in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods by offering mortgages that don’t require down payments, closing costs or minimum credit scores, all

• The best times to find cheap flights. Google Flights data showed prices for domestic flights have usually been their lowest between 21 and 60 days out. Those prices tend to bottom out around 44 days before takeoff.  Look for flights that depart in the

August

31

• Consumer Action INSIDER - September 2022. The September issue of INSIDER brings you stories about some new grants and initiatives at Consumer Action, as well as standard features, like Hotline Chronicles (a terrible snafu with airline tickets) and CFPB Watch (a rundown of what the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been up to). Learn about some upcoming class action settlements, too.

30

• Inside the rise of 'stealerships' and shady car buying. Ten people could go into a dealership and each pay a wildly different amount to buy the same exact vehicle. With supply-chain problems creating shortages recently, many dealerships have been charging much more than

24

• Who qualifies for $10,000 in student debt cancellation?. Under the plan, borrowers can qualify for up to $10,000 in student loan forgiveness, and recipients of Pell Grants are eligible for an additional $10,000 in forgiveness. Only borrowers earning under $125,000 per year — or $250,000 per year,

• Beware of fake warnings in text messages. Scammers pose as a bank or pretend to be from Amazon and send a fake text about suspicious activity on your account or a delayed package only to get you upset. The knee

18

• Military veterans are more vulnerable to scams than civilians. Go Navy Tax Services seemed like a great option for sailors looking for help during tax season. Situated just outside the gates of Naval Base San Diego, one of the country’s biggest Navy

• Dept of ED cancels more ITT student loan debt. The Department of Education said that it will cancel $3.9 billion in student loan debt for 208,000 students who attended the now-defunct for-profit ITT Technical Institute -- bringing the total amount of loan discharges approved under President

04

• New airline refund rules may be coming. Under the proposal, airlines and ticket agents would have to refund consumers when they “significantly” change their flights. This would apply to domestic flights that are delayed by three or more hours, or

01

• Corporate landlords ‘aggressively’ evicted tenants during pandemic. Four major corporate landlords filed thousands of evictions while federal moratorium orders were still standing, using aggressive tactics to force out tenants at the height of the pandemic, according to a new investigation by a

• Consumer Action INSIDER - August 2022. This month's INSIDER brings you stories from Hotline Chronicles ("Interest-heavy payments burn"), our coalition efforts and what the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's been up to on your behalf. Find new class actions as well!

July

27

• How to appeal health insurance claim denials (Summer 2022). Consumers almost never appeal when their health insurance claims are denied. Yet, about 40% of ACA Marketplace claims were overturned on appeal. Consumer Action looks at the key reasons for denial and how to fight for the coverage you deserve.

• How to appeal health insurance claim denials (Summer 2022). Consumers almost never appeal when their health insurance claims are denied. Yet, about 40% of ACA Marketplace claims were overturned on appeal. Consumer Action looks at the key reasons for denial and how to fight for the coverage you deserve.

• How to appeal health insurance claim denials (Summer 2022). Consumers almost never appeal when their health insurance claims are denied. Yet, about 40% of ACA Marketplace claims were overturned on appeal. Consumer Action looks at the key reasons for denial and how to fight for the coverage you deserve.

26

• LinkedIn privacy settings you should change now. LinkedIn has dozens of data, privacy and advertising settings you can control.  If you do only one thing make yourself anonymous while looking at other people’s profiles By default, every time you

25

• We need to keep building houses, even if no one wants to buy. While the challenge for builders, in the short term, might be that they have too many homes and not enough buyers, the challenge for the country, in the long term, remains precisely the opposite: There

07

• Medicare could save $3 billion buying drugs the Mark Cuban way. The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Company promises lower drug prices and complete transparency about how those prices are set.  Cuban’s new company purchases hundreds of generic drugs from manufacturers and sells

05

• Insurers and employers have to reveal health care prices. Insurers and some employers are now required to publicly disclose what they pay hospitals, doctors and other medical providers — an unprecedented look at data that has long been kept secret. While experts create tools

04

• Google: To protect women, collect less data about everyone. Following the Supreme Court decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, anything Google knows about you could be acquired by police in states where abortion is now illegal. There is something Google could