October 2019 • Issue Four, Volume 10 • www.consumer-action.org
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Inside this issue
• What people are saying
• Did you know?
• Ring, ring! Verizon and Consumer Action partner to combat robocalls
• Consumer Action joins advisory council to fight insurance fraud
• Hotline Chronicles: Landlord won't return security deposit
• More low-income households can now get online for $10 (or less)
• 'Rescan' to regain access to your favorite over-the-air TV stations
• Coalition Efforts: Vehicle data, robocalls and mortgage standards
• CFPB Watch: Financial innovation versus consumer protection
• Class Action Database: Consumers cash in over erroneous credit reports
• About Consumer Action
What people are saying
The Consumer Action and Verizon robocall briefing was very organized and informative. I learned a lot of useful information that I can share with my clients and utilize myself. - Alex Whisnant, Housing Counselor, Central American Resource Center
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Did you know?
Facial recognition surveillance programs identify the wrong person up to 98 percent of the time. These errors have real-world impacts, including harassment, wrongful imprisonment and deportation. More and more, police and government agencies (not to mention retailers attempting to identify shoplifters) are using this invasive technology to monitor us everywhere we go, target vulnerable populations for arrest, and deport immigrant families. Facial recognition has been found to be inaccurate and to systematically misidentify women and people of color, putting them at higher risk of being falsely imprisoned or worse. Consumer Action has joined nearly 30 organizations in a grassroots effort to convince lawmakers to ban law enforcement use of facial recognition. Join us!
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Ring, ring! Verizon and Consumer Action partner to combat robocalls
Last month, Verizon and Consumer Action hosted a Washington, D.C., briefing for consumer groups on how to help their clients avoid becoming victims of robocallers (who are often scammers) and how to fight back against the obnoxious and illegal intrusions. Read more...
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Consumer Action joins advisory council to fight insurance fraud
Consumer Action is working with the newly minted Insurance Consumer Protection Advisory Council to get the word out about insurance fraud, which law enforcement has increasingly been working to prevent, saving big bucks on the cost of prosecuting perpetrators. Read more...
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Hotline Chronicles: Landlord won't return security deposit
A Florida man contacted our hotline to ask for ideas on how to get his landlord to return his security deposit after he moved out of the rental unit. Read more...
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More low-income households can now get online for $10 (or less)
Consumer Action has updated its low-cost broadband publications following Comcast's announcement that the company's Internet Essentials program is now available to even more low-income households. Read more...
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'Rescan' to regain access to your favorite over-the-air TV stations
Heads up! If you use an antenna to access local TV stations for free, changes are heading your way: Specifically, changes in frequency that will require you to "rescan" your TV or converter box to ensure continued access to your favorite free over-the-air channels. Read more...
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Coalition Efforts: Vehicle data, robocalls and mortgage standards
Consumer Action often joins its allies in letters, comments and complaints calling for change, standing up for consumer rights, supporting or opposing proposed laws and objecting to corporate misbehavior, among other activities. We collect these in the Coalition Efforts section of our website. Each month in the INSIDER we highlight some recent activities. Read more...
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CFPB Watch: Financial innovation versus consumer protection
In this regular feature, we detail recent actions taken by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This month, we report on how its financial innovation policy competes with consumer protection, highlight its new disaster guide for those with reverse mortgages, and summarize its review of the credit card market. Read more...
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Class Action Database: Consumers cash in over erroneous credit reports
Consumer Action maintains a database of class actions so that interested consumers can learn more, join a pending action or make a claim. Class action lawsuits are an important element of consumer protection and can force changes to anti-consumer business practices and make bad actors return ill-gotten gains to consumers. Read more...
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About Consumer Action
Consumer Action has been a champion of underrepresented consumers nationwide since 1971. A non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, Consumer Action focuses on consumer education that empowers low- and moderate-income and limited-English-speaking consumers to financially prosper. It also advocates for consumers in the media and before lawmakers to advance consumer rights and promote industry-wide change.
By providing consumer education materials in multiple languages, a free national hotline, a comprehensive website (www.consumer-action.org) and annual surveys of financial and consumer services, Consumer Action helps consumers assert their rights in the marketplace and make financially savvy choices. Nearly 7,000 community and grassroots organizations benefit annually from its extensive outreach programs, training materials and support.
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