Hello Digit, a financial technology company that used a faulty algorithm that caused overdrafts and overdraft penalties for customers, is being required to return money to consumers and pay a fine of $2.7 million. Hello Digit was supposed to save people money, but instead cost consumers money.
Every year, consumer agencies and groups report on the top consumer complaints of the previous year. Often, auto complaints top the lists. That’s the result being reported by the Consumer Federation of America. Auto sales and repairs are the No. 1 category of complaints made to local and state consumer agencies in 2021.
Opendoor promised consumers they’d make more money selling a home to them than they’d make on the open market. However, that wasn’t the reality, according to the FTC. Opendoor promoted itself as tech company that uses its pricing technology to offer more accurate offers and lower costs.
Bank of America will pay $250 million for botching the disbursement of state unemployment benefits at pandemic’s height. The bank froze people’s accounts with a faulty fraud detection program, and then gave them little recourse when there was no fraud, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday.
Refunds are still available to consumers who were tricked into wiring money to scammers through Western Union between January 1, 2004 and January 19, 2017. The deadline to file a claim has been extended. If you haven’t file a claim for a refund yet, you now have until Aug. 31 to file.
Every year during open enrollment, I warn people about the problems of signing up for a Medicare Advantage plan. Instead of getting health care through Medicare, with Medicare Advantage private organizations provide the service. It can be offered through an insurance company, an HMO, or a preferred provider organization.
Bank of America will pay $10 million for processing illegal, out-of-state garnishment orders against customers’ bank accounts. It froze accounts, charged fees, garnished funds, and sent payments to creditors based on court orders that should have been processed under state laws where the consumers lived.
The U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday it will discharge all remaining federal student loans borrowed to attend any campus owned or operated by Corinthian Colleges Inc. from its founding in 1995 through its closure in 2015. As a result, 560,000 borrowers will receive $5.8 billion in loan discharges.
Major national auto repair chains need to stop offering financing through EasyPay Finance and TAB Bank, which issue loans at rates up to 189 percent even in states where that rate is illegal. A coalition of consumer groups sent letters to the corporate offices for businesses such as JiffyLube about the loans.
