July 2009 Archives

Even in this economy, fraudulent mortgage lending is alive and well in Virginia. But with sub-prime lending the principal cause of our present economic woes, targets and tactics have changed dramatically. Lenders are now only interested in credit-worthy borrowers. But that doesn't mean all lenders are worthy. Consumers with good credit who are trying to refi, need to be on the look out for unscrupulous lenders and tactics. In June and early July, with rates low, consumers with excellent credit had an opportunity to refinance and reduce their interest. Just such a friend told me what happened to him early...

Virginia consumers beware: read your credit card account statements carefully to make sure you understand all of your charges. A stark example of the kind of error computers can generate is one by Visa that frightened 13,000 Visa prepaid cardholders who on Monday found charges like the $23,148,855,308,184,500 charge below on their statements. Josh Muszynski of Manchester, New Hampshire found the 17-digit debit on his bill, and not surprisingly, he was charged an overdraft fee. His debt exceeded the world GDP and was incurred in one charge at a nearby Mobil gas station. The same thing happend to Jason Bryant...

If you are contemplating buying a used Chrysler product you may want to look at other models, and if you currently own a Chrysler product, you may want to consider selling it. Pursuant to Chrysler's bankruptcy, the company will not be held accountable for defective products it manufactured prior to the bankruptcy. As can be seen from a random Google search, product defects can surface years after the vehicle is manufactured and can manifest in a crash ranging from severe burn injuries from a defective part to paralyzing or life ending spinal injuries resulting from a defectively designed roof. Courtesy...

Virginia consumers may not know it, but most of the contracts they sign with credit card companies, banks and retail lenders contain mandatory arbitration provisions that keep any dispute out of the courts. Disputes arising under the contract are resolved by a supposedly neutral arbitrator. One of the largest arbitration agencies, the National Arbitration Forum, goes so far as to hold itself out to the public as operating like an impartial court system. Yesterday, Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson alleged that this is all a lie in a suit filed against NAF contending that it has "extensive ties to the...

Earlier this year I posted a blog concerning new federal legislation, the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act 15 U.S.C. 8001 et seq. that required pools to have a new drain cover. I have been checking the indoor and outdoor pools that my daughter swims in and so far all pools have complied. However, here in Roanoke, that only consists of the indoor and outdoor pools at the Roanoke Athletic Club and my sister's kids' private outdoor swim club pool owned by our church. Apparently, some pools across the country still have not gotten the message, even those...

On June 4, 2009, the Virginia Supreme Court issued a decision that is sure to have tremendous impact on injury victims and their insurers in the state of Virginia. The decision means that injured victims could potentially have a greater amount of uninsured motorist coverage available if the injured victim/insured owns more than one car on any auto policy that covers that victim/insured. The case of Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company v. Williams, re-opens Virginia law to intra-policy stacking of uninsured motorist coverage. An example of intra policy stacking would be having 2 vehicles on one insurance policy, each...