http://www.valentinelegal.com/consumerlawblog All About Consumer Issues! Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:16:05 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I recently found out about a unit at Maryland's Attorney General's Office.  They have a unit called the Health Education and Advocacy Unit.  They offer help to consumers who are having a billing dispute with their health care provider or health insurance company.  The Unit assists with issues like these:  Health insurance ... http://www.valentinelegal.com/consumerlawblog/2008/08/27/dispute-over-medical-bills/ The Federal Reserve and Congress are both working on tightening the rules on credit card companies.  Stricter regulation will probably be approved by the end of the year.   Some of the rules being considered by the Federal Reserve include:  (1) specifying when credit card companies can raise interest rates on ... http://www.valentinelegal.com/consumerlawblog/2008/08/21/possible-reforms-for-credit-card-industry/ In Post #1, I talked about steps to take in trying to resolve problems with your credit card company.   One step is complaining to the federal agency that oversees your credit card issuer.  In this post, I'm giving you the contact information for the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS).  OTS ... http://www.valentinelegal.com/consumerlawblog/2008/07/31/where-to-complain-about-credit-card-issues-post-2/ Clients often ask me about the "inquiry" section on their credit reports.  A significant number of consumers don't know what the inquiry section is or about the different type of inquiries.  The inquiry section is a listing of all the companies and/or individuals who have asked to see your credit history.  ... http://www.valentinelegal.com/consumerlawblog/2008/07/18/credit-report-inquiries/ If you are having a dispute with your credit card company, try and resolve it with the credit card company first.  If that doesn't work, you probably want to file a complaint with the federal agency responsible for enforcing consumer credit law for your credit card company.  The agency responsible ... http://www.valentinelegal.com/consumerlawblog/2008/07/13/where-to-complain-about-credit-card-issues-post-1/ Hackers broke into Citibank’s ATMs inside 7-Eleven stores earlier this year and stole customers’ PIN codes.  The hackers netted millions of dollars. The thieves were able to access the PIN numbers by attacking the back-end computers responsible for approving the cash withdrawals.  Hackers are targeting the ATM system’s infrastructure, which often uses Microsoft's ... http://www.valentinelegal.com/consumerlawblog/2008/07/02/citibank-atm-breach/ In addition to the big 3 credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax & Trans Union), there exist some small credit bureaus.  You should check your credit reports with the smaller credit bureaus as well as with the big 3.  Innovis is an example of one of the smaller credit bureaus.  You ... http://www.valentinelegal.com/consumerlawblog/2008/07/01/innovis-credit-report/ Fair Isaac, the developer of the FICO credit score, has made some changes to the way your FICO credit score is calculated.  Here are some of the changes:  If you are an authorized user on someone else's credit card, you will no longer benefit from the credit rating associated with ... http://www.valentinelegal.com/consumerlawblog/2008/06/04/new-fico-changes/ Many companies that solicit new credit card accounts use prescreening to identify potential customers.  Prescreened offers are based upon information in your credit report that indicates you meet the criteria set by the credit card company.  There will be inquiries on your credit report showing which companies obtained your information ... http://www.valentinelegal.com/consumerlawblog/2008/05/05/stopping-unsolicited-credit-card-offers/ The scam:  You've been told that you've been "pre-qualified" to get a low interest loan or credit card but the company needs you to pay a processing fee of several hundred dollars.    The truth:  Legitimate lenders never "guarantee" a credit card or loan before you apply.  A legitimate pre-qualified offer ... http://www.valentinelegal.com/consumerlawblog/2008/04/25/pre-qualified-never-means-pre-pay/