Consumer Action

Alerts

Consumer Action's Alerts highlight trends in consumer complaints, scams, outrageous fees and other notable consumer information.

Checks hit the mail to foreclosed homeowners Friday (Apr 11, 2013)
The first wave of checks will head to homeowners who were foreclosed on in 2009 and 2010 starting Friday,…
FTC cracks down on text spammers (Mar 07, 2013)
Ever received a text message offering a free gift card or prize? Seem to good to be true? It…
Higher EITC limits among changes this tax season (Feb 14, 2013)
The 2013 tax season is officially open, and there are some changes for taxpayers to be aware of as…

Housing (Mar 29, 2013)
NEW: SB 603 Protects Renters' Security Deposits 15 million renters live in California, and improper withholding…
Autos (Mar 29, 2013)
NEW: SB 686 Gets Dealers to Fix Recalled Vehicles Most car buyers would not expect that…
Consumer Protection (Mar 29, 2013)
NEW: AB 329 Would Preserve Fans' Ticket Rights A new consumer-unfriendly kind of ticket is being…

Class action lawsuits (May 08, 2013)
Settled/open to claims AT&T Current and former AT&T landline customers who were billed for…
Class Action Lawsuits (Jan 18, 2013)
Consumer Action maintains a listing of class actions we learn about, so that interested consumers can learn more information, join…

IRS warns of 2013 ‘Dirty Dozen’ tax scams (Mar 27, 2013)
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has just released its annual “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams. The scams range…
Hang up on aggressive callers from the 'electric utility' (Mar 05, 2013)
Consumer Action is warning consumers about calls from scammers who claim to be representatives of the utility company. Callers…
NCL Fraud Center offers tips to avoid Twitter scams (Jun 21, 2012)
Our friends at National Consumers League have issued an important warning for Twitter users. NCL's Fraud…

2012 brings new consumer laws in California (Dec 30, 2011)
Thanks to our friends at the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer Affairs for compiling this great list of the…
July 2012 brings new protections for California car buyers (Sep 27, 2011)
AB 1215 (Blumenfield) has been signed by Governor Brown. Once it takes effect, it will offer important new protections to…
2011 consumer laws in the Golden State (Jan 21, 2011)
The Los Angeles Department of Consumer Affairs has prepared a nifty run-down of California consumer protection laws that went into…

Airline baggage fees (Apr 17, 2008)
Checked baggage fees started with Ryanair. Then they crossed the Atlantic and the Spirit caught on with Allegiant and Virgin…
Airlines' second-bag fee (Mar 04, 2008)
Two major airlines, United Airlines and US Airways, have recently announced a new baggage policy that will require consumers traveling…
Insurance Premium Installment Fees (Jan 17, 2008)
We often hear the phrase, “The poor pay more,” and here’s a couple concrete examples of how people who can’t…

How to find credit-builder loan programs (May 30, 2012)
Because a strong credit history is so important to financial prosperity, some non-profit organizations offer special loan programs that enable…
Survey compares rates, fees and more for major P2P lending sites (May 30, 2012)
Despite the worst of the financial crisis supposedly having passed, even consumers with a decent credit history are having a…

Consumer Action Insurance Survey (Sep 25, 2008)
Update: The survey closed on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008. Please watch for the results in our Fall 2008 issue of…
Credit Limit Survey (Jun 24, 2008)
This survey closed on July 15, 2008. Click here to see the results…