About 90% of arbitration clauses in credit card and checking account agreements prevent consumers from participating in class actions, according to a report released today by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Companies and consumers use arbitration to settle disputes outside the court system, and financial service contracts often include “pre-dispute arbitration clauses” — which state… Read More

Roughly 70% of the class of 2012 graduated with student loan debt, and the average debt load was $29,400. That doesn’t mean those students or their parents didn’t save for college, but perhaps they wished they had set aside a little more. An informal poll from the National Financial Educators Council showed that many Americans… Read More

One of the best reasons for paying for a purchase with a credit card instead of a debit card or cash is the power it gives you to dispute charges. If there is a problem with a purchase you’ve charged — you were billed the wrong amount or you didn’t get what you ordered —… Read More

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced its latest enforcement action Tuesday, ordering GE Capital Retail Bank and subsidiary CareCredit to refund as much as $34.1 million to consumers who thought they were signing up for interest-free credit cards, but the cards accrued interest to be applied at the end of a promotional period. The refunds,… Read More

Consumers sharply increased their credit card spending in October, adding $4.3 billion to their balances since September, according to the latest consumer credit data from the Federal Reserve. The 16-day partial government shutdown left thousands of federal employees without paychecks for much of the month, and consumers reached for credit cards to cover costs. “The… Read More

When it comes to holiday spending, it turns out men and women shop differently. Not just in what they buy, but in terms of how they pay for those purchases. Men are more likely than women to put holiday purchases on a credit card, and they plan to pay for more of their purchases that… Read More

Technically, you could walk into a home that isn’t yours and declare ownership without paying a cent. There are a lot more details that would need to play out in just the right way, but theoretically, it’s possible through a process called adverse possession. It’s the concept most people are referring to when they talk… Read More

Selecting the right home to fit your current and future needs can be challenging. One of the first decisions you’ll make is how you define “home.” There are many options including a single family residence, duplex, multiplex, condominium, modular or mobile homes. Two of the most common choices are single family homes and condominiums. While… Read More

We know … just about everyone loves gift cards. Most people have them on their wish lists, and most of us plan to give them this holiday season. And yet, not everyone’s a fan. Consumer advocate and author Clark Howard hates them so much he designed a gift certificate to give with the cash to… Read More

Plenty of things can help a consumer’s credit scores, and even more can hurt it. But not everything is positive or negative. Some things in the financial world just don’t matter when it comes to credit. This may be a relief to some people who are worried about hurting their credit because of issues relating… Read More