May 2021 • Issue 11, volume 11 • www.consumer-action.org
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Tell us how we're doing!
Can you believe Consumer Action has been around for 50 years, fighting hard for your right to a fair marketplace and educating you and your loved ones on financial practices to help you prosper? We have! And we'd love your feedback on how we've been doing and which of our services have been most important to you. Please fill out our (very) brief three-question survey here!
What people are saying
"Your webinar on the adoption of contactless payments during the pandemic is the VERY best webinar I've attended since COVID hit. The host's enthusiasm and professional presentation style were both fun and engaging. Best. Host. EVER! Each panelist's content was very clear and helpful; they also...provided specific tips on how financial coaches could use the info! 10 out of 10 for content and presentation!"
--Jennifer Quillin, Desert Mission Living Well Program Financial Coach
Did you know?
Companies and headhunters are using personality tests in the hiring process more frequently. If you are job hunting, know that laws enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) prohibit the use of pre-employment screening tests if they are used to discriminate against prospective--and current--employees. Pre-employment testing can violate federal anti-discrimination laws if it purposefully discriminates against or excludes people based only on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability, or age (40 or older). "Disparate impact" is what occurs if the test unfairly and negatively impacts protected groups by disproportionately screening them out of a job, particularly if the questions/tasks in the test or procedure are not relevant to the ability to perform the job and the employer cannot prove they are under the law.
Making sense of pandemic-related aid and assistance
Earlier this spring, Consumer Action took part in a timely discussion to clarify the many forms of aid and assistance available through both federal and state governments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic--particularly in regard to homeowner and renter protections. Understanding these critical protections can mean the difference between secure housing and homelessness.
Read more...
Hotline Chronicles: Real estate seminar is all costs, no returns
A woman who paid tens of thousands for a seminar on how to make money flipping houses complained that the follow-up and handholding promised to attendees never materialized. She hoped against hope that she could get her money back. Read more...
Coalition Efforts: Opposing Instagram for kids and drugstore data demands
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...
CFPB Watch: Preventing future foreclosures, curbing debt collection deception
In this regular feature, we detail recent actions taken by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This month, the Bureau warns mortgage servicers to prepare for a surge in mortgage modification requests once existing eviction and foreclosure moratoriums expire. The agency also hits a collector with consequences for debt collection deception. Read more...
Class Action Database: Post cereal serves up bowls of 'nutritious' nonsense
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...
About Consumer Action
Consumer Action has been a champion of underrepresented consumers nationwide since 1971. A nonprofit 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. More than 6,000 community and grassroots organizations benefit annually from its extensive outreach programs, training materials and support. Read more...
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