Current Events in June 2017

A jury in California last week awarded $60 million in statutory and punitive damages to more than 8,000 consumers who sued TransUnion, one of the three credit reporting agencies.

The consumers filed the class action, claiming that TransUnion violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) when it misidentified them in their credit reports as terrorists and drug traffickers. It turns out the real bad guys had names that were similar to the plaintiffs in the case.

The plaintiffs will each receive more than $7,300 as their share of the award, after they were wrongly identified in their credit reports as being engaged in criminal activity.

The FCRA requires credit reporting agencies to ensure that the information contained in consumers' credit reports is as accurate as possible. The law is intended to protect consumers from misinformation being used against them.

Importance of class action suits

Lawyers at the National Consumer Law Center said the case underscores the importance of class actions and consumer protection laws that allow consumers to seek relief in court. They pointed out that Trans Union had defended the mistakes by arguing that consumers weren't hurt financially.

“TransUnion falsely tagged innocent consumers as potential terrorists or drug dealers and then decided it was ‘no big deal’ because the consumers didn’t lose any money,” said National Consumer Law Center attorney Chi Chi Wu. “But these 8000-plus consumers had their reputations unfairly maligned.”

Wu said in this particular case, consumers might not have had much individual recourse to get relief. It was only through the class action that they were able to get their day in court.

“This case also shows the critical importance of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) final rule against forced arbitration clauses in consumer financial contracts, which we hope will be issued soon,” said Lauren Saunders, associate director of the National Consumer Law Center. “This case could not have gone forward if consumers were bound by a forced arbitration clause with a class action ban.”

The $60 million award was the largest ever in a case involving the FCRA, according to the National Consumer Law Center.

General Motors is recalling 6,204 model year 2014-2016 Chevrolet SS vehicles.

Corrosion of the connector between the electric power steering module and the torque sensor connector may cause a loss of electric power steering assist.

A greater steering effort would be needed to control the vehicle if power steering is lost, increasing the risk of a crash.

What to do

GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the steering gear assembly, replacing it as necessary, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule.

Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 17248.

Supreme Cuisine of Montgomery City, Mo., is recalling approximately 325,000 pounds of meat and poultry fat and lard products.

A processing deviation may result in the potential growth and survival of bacterial pathogens in the products.

There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.

The following duck, beef and pork fat and lard items, produced and packaged from June 1, 2016, through May 8, 2017, with a one-year shelf life, are being recalled:

The recalled products, bearing establishment number “EST. 34595” or “P-34595” inside the USDA mark of inspection, were sold on the internet and shipped to retail locations nationwide.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should not consume them, but throw them away.

Consumers with questions about the recall may contact Epic Consumer Relations at (844) 370-1971. 

Senate Republicans have taken the wraps off their version of the replacement of the Affordable Care Act, saying it preserves some of the important elements of the original legislation but is more sustainable.

People who want to eliminate Obamacare altogether don't like it very much. Neither do people who want to keep Obamacare.

The bill, hammered out behind closed doors, maintains some of the subsidies to pay for health insurance policies but rolls back Obamacare's expansion of Medicaid to low-income consumers. A number of organizations immediately lined up in opposition.

AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond said the proposal would impose an “age tax” on older Americans, increasing their premiums and reducing tax credits.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the bill is the result of extensive collaboration. 

"Through dozens of meetings, open to each and every member of the Conference, we had the opportunity to offer and consider many ideas for confronting the Obamacare status quo," McConnell said in a statement on his website. "We debated many policy proposals. We considered many different viewpoints."

'Higher costs and less coverage'

This new Senate bill was crafted in secrecy behind closed doors without a single hearing or open debate—and it shows,”LeaMond said. “The Senate bill would hit millions of Americans with higher costs and result in less coverage for them. AARP is adamantly opposed to the Age Tax, which would allow insurance companies to charge older Americans five times more for coverage than everyone else while reducing tax credits that help make insurance more affordable.”

Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director, American Public Health Association, also denounced the bill, saying millions would lose their health insurance under it.

“The bill would devastate the Medicaid program, our nation’s health care safety net on which 69 million low-income Americans and people with disabilities — including 37 million children — rely,” Benjamin said. “The measure would slash investments in core public health activities by eliminating the Prevention and Public Health Fund.”

'Shamful'

J. David Cox Sr., President, American Federation of Government Employees, said the Senate bill is even harsher than the house bill that repeals the Affordable Care Act. He called the final result “shameful.”

The Catholic Health Association announced its strong opposition to the Senate legislation. Sister Carol Keehan said the Senate should be able to do better.

“We recommend a new bipartisan focus to make improvements in our health care system that will stabilize the insurance market, improve affordability and strengthen and expand health coverage. W,” Keehan said. “We ask Congress to ensure that the funds currently supporting health care programs remain in the system under any legislative proposal, instead of being diverted for tax cuts for the more fortunate.”

In the Senate, all Democrats have lined up against the measure and so far, four Republican Senators have announced their opposition. Should the four GOP lawmakers remain firm, the bill would be doomed to failure since the Republicans hold only a slim two vote majority in the chamber.

With shortages of homes for sale, sellers are finding it is a little easier to sell their homes. That is, if they happen to live in one of the hot housing markets where homes sell in days rather than weeks.

If you happen to live in a market where there's a bit more competition, you might have to work a little harder, not only to generate traffic but also get a signed contract sooner.

Trulia, the online real estate marketplace, recently offered several tips to sellers who want to sell their homes faster. Most are simple steps that involve little, if any expense.

First on the list is to rent a nearby storage unit. Nearly every home is full of stuff that accumulates into clutter. Getting rid of the clutter, along with family photographs and other highly personal effects, will make your home show better.

Rather than getting rid of stuff, just get it out of sight. A storage unit accomplishes that nicely and allows you to stage your home.

Get help staging your home

Here, you might spend a few dollars for some help. There are people who stage homes for a living. Ask them to view your property and suggest ways to put it in the best possible light.

Once it's perfectly arranged, have it photographed. Often the person who stages the home will also provide a photography service as well. Nice photographs of a staged home will increase traffic. A professional photographer can make a small condo like the one pictured here look open and spacious. 

Next, find the right real estate agent. First, they need to know your area, including your neighborhood.

Next, they need to be sellers, not just listers. Find an agent who spends his or her weekends showing homes in your area, and has a track record of closing the deal.

Once you've listed your home, don't just leave it up to your agent. There are plenty of ways you can market your home as well. Use social media to let your friends and contacts know you have a great house for sale.

Small upgrades

Consider small upgrades but don't go overboard, because you aren't likely to get back the cost in your sale price. Instead, consider any upgrade expense a marketing cost, much like hiring someone to stage your home. In fact, the stager might also have suggestions where money would be well spent.

When the house is being shown, there needs to be as much light as possible, both from natural sources and from light fixtures. Make sure all the bulbs in all fixtures are working and are of the highest possible wattage. Remove heavy curtains from windows so the light shines in and gives the place a light, airy feel.

There may be plenty of things inside your home that need attention, but don't neglect the outside. Curb appeal is, and always has been, a very important factor. Shrubs should be trimmed and the lawn raked to remove any leaves or other debris.

Consider hiring a lawn service to reseed and fertilize the lawn to fill in any bare spots to give it a full, lush appearance.

Finally, Trulia recommends putting your house on the market at just the right time. Spring and summer are usually best. It may not only sell faster, it might sell for closer to your asking price.

Certain health conditions and risk factors could affect a woman or her unborn baby if she becomes pregnant. For this reason, physicians often advise women to practice good preconception health.

Taking folic acid, achieving a healthy weight, and making sure medical conditions are under control can help boost the odds of having a healthy pregnancy and baby. Now, prospective parents can take their efforts to have a healthy child a step further with the help of genetic testing and counseling.

An at-home saliva test called JScreen (affiliated with Emory University) is letting couples find out if they are carriers diseases that could be passed on to their children, such as Tay-Sachs, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, and Duchenne and Becker Muscular Dystrophy.

Screening and counseling

JScreen says its test -- which uses genetic sequencing technology to determine carrier status for diseases common in many ethnic groups, as well as in the general population -- is “significantly more comprehensive than other tests that can be ordered online.”

The test screens for more than 200 genetic diseases that could affect a couple’s future children. In addition to the saliva test, couples receive genetic counseling via phone or video conference.

"Genetic testing alone is not enough. Counseling is a necessary part of the process,” said Karen Grinzaid, JScreen's Executive Director. “Labs that report results directly to consumers put people at risk for misinterpreting the information they need to make family planning decisions.”

Understanding the risks

To provide couples with a more complete understanding of their risk of passing on diseases, JScreen recently doubled its screening panel. The saliva test previously only screened for 100 disease genes.

The move comes in the wake of new recommendations by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) that encourage doctors to discuss expanded carrier screenings with their patients.

“If families have information, they have choices,” Grinzaid told the Atlanta Jewish Times. “You can have a conversation with your spouse about what you would or would not do if you were to have an affected child." 

"Our goal is to get to people preconception, as much as possible, so they can make decisions on different reproductive options, such as in vitro fertilization or adoption, and maximize their chances of having a healthy family," she concluded.

We all have our bad habits, and sometimes they give us a bad reputation, whether we deserve it or not. In Google's case, snooping around users' emails has made it a pariah in privacy circles, but that's about to come to an end.

Google says that from now, it will not be scanning your email contents to decide what ads to serve to you. Instead, the ads will be based on the information Google already has about you, which is -- after all -- just about everything.

It's not so much individual consumers that Google is concerned about. Instead, it's big corporate customers, who have shied away from using Google Cloud, the cloud computing service that competes with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft.

In fact, Google has never scanned the contents of its business constumers' emails, for the simple reason that it doesn't serve ads to the users of its paid email service, which is part of a cloud package called G Suite. But some business customers were confused, so Google is eliminating the practice for everyone, consumer and business alike. 

The announcement comes from Diane Greene, Google's senior VP of cloud services, who said that Google now has more than 3 million companies paying to use G Suite, double what it had last year at this time. 

Workplace stress can often extend beyond the confines of the office to affect consumers’ home lives. While harmful and abusive practices like binge drinking or drug use are all too common, one vice that may not get enough attention is overeating.

Eating too much over a short period of time comes with a host of health risks, including diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and kidney disease. However, researchers from Michigan State University say there is a cure for overeating: get a good night’s sleep.

"We found that employees who have a stressful workday tend to bring their negative feelings from the workplace to the dinner table, as manifested in eating more than usual and opting for more junk food instead of healthy food," said study co-author Chu-Hsiang Chang.

"However, another key finding showed how sleep helped people deal with their stressful eating after work. When workers slept better the night before, they tended to eat better when they experienced stress the next day."

Relief and loss of control

The researchers analyzed two studies involving 235 Chinese workers who either regularly experienced a high workload or expressed high levels of stress stemming from having to deal with rude or demanding customers.

Findings from the studies showed that the negative feelings associated with participants’ jobs often led to unhealthy eating habits when they went home at night. Study co-author Yihao Liu explains how this behavior has two potential explanations.

"First, eating is sometimes used as an activity to relieve and regulate one's negative mood, because individuals instinctually avoid aversive feelings and approach desire feelings," he said. "Second, unhealthy eating can also be a consequence of diminished self-control. When feeling stressed out by work, individuals usually experience inadequacy in exerting effective control over their cognitions and behaviors to be aligned with personal goals and social norms."

A good night’s sleep

However, the researchers found that participants who received a good night’s sleep were better prepared to handle the stresses of their jobs the next morning. As a result, they were also better to regulate what they ate at night and reduce overeating and unhealthy eating habits.

"A good night's sleep can make workers replenished and feel vigorous again, which may make them better able to deal with stress at work the next day and less vulnerable to unhealthy eating," said Chang.

The researchers recommend that companies reconsider food-related job benefits in an effort to combat overeating and unhealthy eating habits. They say that these perks can often temporarily offset work-related stress, but they also reaffirm that more comprehensive solutions to reduce sources of stress are necessary for long-term health.

The full study has been published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.

Most of the world's carmakers are concentrating on designing safe, efficient models that will evolve over the next decade or so into fully autonomous people-movers that will supposedly enhance safety, save energy, and so forth.

Then there's FCA (Fiat Chrysler), which seems determined to go its own way by building cars that share family characteristics with its more exotic macho marques, like Ferrari, Maserati, and Alfa Romeo.

The latest and rather extreme example is the $86,090 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon. Yes, the price is rather demonic for a Dodge, but this isn't your father's Dodge. The Demon develops 840 horsepower and comes standard with racing slicks.

It also has a launch mode. This is all the rage in muscle-car circles these days (come on, you can't call them sports cars). It basically holds the car in place while you build up the RPMs, enabling you to shoot off the line at outrageous speeds (or spin out into the nearest abutment). 

Wisdom questioned

Many people have expressed concern over FCA's sanity, questioning the wisdom of putting such a potentially destructive weapon into the hands of America's drivers.

It now appears that the doubters include some of FCA's legal team. Enthusiast site Allpar.com this week reported that purchasers of the Demon will be required to sign a notarized form saying that they agree not to drive the car with the racing slicks in wet weather, or when the temperature is below 15 degrees. 

Slicks -- or "drag radials" as they're being called -- don't have any tread to speak off. Ergo, not much traction. Thus the warnings against driving on wet or slipper streets.

The potential for self-destruction remains high, however, even on dry pavement. Some critics have suggested that the launch control include a two-minute delay so that charged-up drivers don't pop into it everytime they see a Corvette or Porsche 911 stopped beside them at a light.

Maybe because of the dip in auto sales, the cost of leasing a new car is going down this month.

A report by Wantalease.com, an online car lease marketplace, finds the average monthly lease payment declined in June, pressured by three cars with payments under $150.

According to the website, the Nissan Sentra SV can be leased for as low as $109 per month. It says 15 vehicles carry a lease payment of $199 per month or less.

The average monthly lease payment so far this month is $340.37, down from $352.80 in May. Wantalease.com says it keeps tabs on the monthly payments on 60 of today’s most popular makes and models.

Small SUVs

Small SUVs are the hottest vehicles in the marketplace at the moment, and three of them are currently available with payments of $199 a month. They are the Chevrolet Equinox 2WD LS, the Honda CR-V LX 2WD, and the Nissan Rogue S FWD.

Among luxury vehicles – traditionally where most vehicles have been leased rather than purchased – the the Acura ILX is currently the lowest-priced vehicle in that category, at $219 per month.

As for the biggest drop in lease payments from one month to the next, the Chevrolet Cab LT drives away with that honor. Its payment fell 16.8% this month, to $289. The Chevy Equinox 2WD dropped nearly as much and can now be leased for $199 a month.

Aggressive pricing

“With monthly vehicle sales struggling a bit to maintain momentum of the last few years, we’re seeing a continuation of aggressive lease pricing on many of today’s more popular cars and trucks,” said Scot Hall, Executive Vice President, Wantalease.com. “Yesterday’s lease deals were largely confined to luxury makes and models, but today we’re seeing low prices on a wider variety of cars and trucks, including utility vehicles.”

But whether a lease makes sense is determined by more factors than simply a monthly payment that fits into your budget. All leases have mileage limits, and going over them will carry additional changes at the end of the lease. If you drive more than 1,000 miles per month, you might consider purchasing a less expensive vehicle.

You may also owe additional money when you turn the car in if has dents and scratches, beyond normal wear and tear.

There are many out there questioning Sears’ ability to survive in the retail market, including executives from Sears itself.

Further evidence of the retailer’s struggle surfaced in an announcement made Thursday, which detailed the closing of 20 more stores in several different states. The decision to close these locations brings the total number this year to 235. According to Business Insider, the total number of stores has diminished to 1,180 from 2,073 five years ago.

Employees from the latest batch of closed stores were notified Thursday of the decision, which came on the heels of 59 store closings announced the same day for Sears Canada. The full list of stores can be viewed below:

• Sarasota, FL – 8201 S Tamiami Trail
• Chicago, IL – 1601 N Harlem Ave.
• Overland Park, Kansas – 9701 Metcalf Ave.
• Lafayette, La. – 5715 Johnston Street
• San Diego, Calif. – 4575 La Jolla Village Drive
• Cockeysville, Maryland – 126 Shawan Rd.
• Hagerstown, Maryland – 17318 Valley Mall Rd.
• Roseville, Mich. – 32123 Gratiot Ave.
• Burnsville, Minn. – 14250 Buck Hill Rd.
• Watchung, NJ – 1640 Rte. 22
• Albany, NY – 1425 Central Ave.
• East Northport, NY – 4000 Jericho Turnpike
• Johnson City, NY – 601-635 Harry L. Drive
• Mentor, Ohio – 7875 Johnnycake Ridge Rd.
• Middleburg Heights, Ohio – 6950 W 130^th St.
• Toledo, Ohio – 3408 W Central Ave.
• Warwick, RI – 650 Bald Hill Rd.
• Friendswood, Tex. – 300 Baybrook Mall
• Houston, Tex. – 9570 Southwest Freeway
• Greendale Wis. – 5200 South 76^th St.

One new store

On top of all its store closing news, Sears did offer one brief glimmer of expansion on Thursday. The company announced the opening of its first Sears Appliances & Mattresses store in Pharr, Texas.

Sears says that the free-standing store will compete in two of its most competitive categories, with hopes that it will follow in the footsteps of a successful Sears Appliances store opened in Ft. Collins, Colorado in 2016, which has “surpassed projections.”

The new store will allow consumers to meet with experts for scheduled appointments and provide flexible options for ordering and picking up purchased items. The grand opening which is currently underway offers discounts of up to 40% on appliances and up to 60% on mattresses.

Bulletproof 360 of Bellevue, Wash., is recalling five Collagen Protein Bar and Bite products that have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

No illnesses have been reported to date. 

The following products are being recalled:

The recalled products were distributed between April 7 and June 12, 2017, in retail stores nationally and on bulletproof.com to customers nationally and in the following locations: Australia, Bahrain, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Cayman Islands, China, Finland, France, Germany, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Macau, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should not eat them, but return them to Bulletproof for a replacement or bulletproof.com store credit.

Consumers with questions or concerns may contact Bulletproof customer service at 1-425-434-9704 Monday through Friday, from 9AM-5PM (PDT).

BMW of North America is recalling 92 model year 2013-2015 740i, 740Li, 740Lxi, 750i, 750xi, 750Li and 750Lxi and 2014 ActiveHybrid 7 vehicles.  

The recalled vehicles may have received incorrect replacement left rear taillight assemblies.  

As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment." 

Vehicles with the incorrect left rear lamp assemblies may be less conspicuous to other drivers, possibly increasing the risk of a crash.

What to do

BMW will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the vehicles and replace any incorrect left rear taillight assemblies, free of charge.  

The recall is expected to begin August 7, 2017. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.

Scammers often go back to their playbook, using a scheme that has worked in the past, just tweaking it a bit to give it a fresh look.

Sending out phishing emails that appear to be from a government agency, such as the IRS, has been a staple. They're called “imposter scams.” In a new twist, a spam email now making the rounds appears to come from Maureen Ohlhausen, acting chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

According to Nat Wood, the agency's director of consumer and business education, the message has a slight ring of authenticity. It says the FTC is distributing money from the Western Union settlement and it asks for your bank account information so the funds can be deposited directly into your account.

“The email is a scam to steal your financial information,” Wood writes on the FTC blog. “In 2016, consumers reported more complaints about imposter scams to the FTC than any other fraud.”

Western Union settlement

This imposter scam might be effective because there is a small element of fact here. The FTC is, in fact, involved in a settlement with Western Union, which in the past was scammers' favorite method of taking money from their victims.

While the settlement part happens to be true, Wood points out the Justice Department, not the FTC, is running it, and it hasn't even started yet.

Here are the facts about that case. Early this year the FTC and Western Union agreed to a $586 million settlement of charges the company could have done more to prevent scammers from using its services to fleece victims. Western Union has since enacted numerous safeguards to warn consumers of the danger.

By building their imposter scam around a previous scheme, the fraudsters may be targeting people who were previously scammed using Western Union. If so, they are using another scam technique called “reloading.” Scammers believe that people who have been victims of a scam are more likely to fall for another one – especially if it appears it is rectifying a previous one.

Wood says consumers who receive one of these imposter emails should not click on any links and forward it to the FTC at spam@uce.gov.