Housing Information

Alerts

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

Financial reform fact sheet (Aug 16, 2010)
The landmark federal financial reform legislation (the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010) was designed to…
Consumer Action participates in key housing hearing (Aug 10, 2010)
Consumer Action participated in the Federal Reserve Board Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data hearings in San Francisco on Aug.…
Fannie Mae reaches out to prevent foreclosure (Aug 03, 2010)
Homeowners have a new resource in the fight to prevent foreclosure. The giant mortgage purchaser, Fannie Mae, has launched a…

IRS will check homebuyer credit eligibility (Jul 29, 2009)
Today, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced its first successful prosecution related to fraud involving the first-time homebuyer credit and…
Fed warns of phishing 'trojan virus' scheme (Jan 15, 2009)
Don't click on an email that claims to be from the Federal Reserve Bank. It contains a link with malicious…
Operation Clean Sweep targets 'credit repair' (Oct 21, 2008)
On Oct. 23, the Federal Trade Commission, in cooperation with 25 state agencies in 23 states, will hold a press…

New California Consumer Laws - 2009 (Mar 30, 2009)
The County of Los Angeles Department of Consumer Affairs Staff Training Academy has issued a comprehensive guide to new consumer…
'New low' in mortgage modification scams (Mar 13, 2009)
California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today warned that scam artists have "sunk to a new low" and have…
California Legislative Summary (Nov 12, 2008)
During the 2007-08 session, Consumer Action supported 48 bills and took a position on 51 bills introduced in the California…

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…
The Opt-Out Fee (Oct 02, 2006)
For years the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), an organization of businesses that send out bulk unsolicited marketing communications, has let…

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…