Sallie Mae tuition insurance: buyer beware
July 23, 2011 by Marcy Einhorn, Esq.
Among the financial services Sallie Mae offers to students and parents has recently been added a tuition insurance plan in partnership with Next Generation Insurance Group. According to the NY Times, however, the plan reimburses at different rates for physical and mental health withdrawals from school. While physical causes for withdrawal result in 100% tuition reimbursement, mental health withdrawals from school are only reimbursed at 75%, and often require a multi-day hospital stay. The...
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Debt Deception in Mid-America
July 18, 2011 by Marcy Einhorn, Esq.
Today’s WSJ reports that debt collectors in mid-America have the luxury of being able to pick from among several local courts, and local judges, before they commence a debt-collection lawsuit.
And pick they do!
Seems some judges out there are known for running unsupervised settlement conferences, and some courts allow their clerks to hand out collection industry questionnaires as if they were court documents. The way this plays out is that many well intentioned consumers who are showing...
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Core Functions of the new CFPB
July 16, 2011 by Marcy Einhorn, Esq.
Again, straight from the new agency’s website, these are the core functions of the CFPB:
The consumer bureau will work to make sure that consumers have the information they need to understand the terms of their agreements with financial companies. It will also work to make regulations and guidance as clear and streamlined as possible so providers of consumer financial products and services can follow the rules on their own.
Congress established the CFPB to protect consumers by carrying...
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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Opens this week
July 16, 2011 by Marcy Einhorn, Esq.
According to the new agencies website, the consumer bureau will “implement and enforce new protections under the Dodd-Frank Act that will:
Require mortgage lenders to determine that a borrower has the ability to repay a loan by verifying income and making sure borrowers can afford loans even after teaser rates expire and payments rise;
Prohibit prepayment penalties, which can make it expensive to refinance, for high cost loans and adjustable-rate mortgages;
Put an end to practices like...
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