BHPH dealers are usually their own bank for holding the notes and collecting, and skirt the financial disclosure regulations in the process and in the re-titling of repos. (Assuming the title is ever placed in the buyer's name.) Often, their floor plan is private or through major auctions, and the finance arm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the dealership.  

This particular predatory practice is not limited to the sketchy downscale boulevard dealers, but is often found in the flashy franchised used car groups, doing high volume sales with extremely detailed buyer qualification handbooks. They've been with us for years, but the increase in the mass of low income workers who need mobility 
now make the problem more visible. 

Often, the condition of the vehicles are blamed for the repo, but it's more likely to be the burden of repayment that triggers. It's a better business model to sell the best cars the particular market will bear, setting the markup aside. These dealers are selling money, and the car is just a mechanism that recognizes a need and opens the door to a payment process. It's a lot more profitable to repo a decent vehicle if you're going to resell it. 

About Us
The Institute of Student Loan Advisors Corporation (TISLA) was founded to ensure that all student loan borrowers have access to free, neutral and clear student loan advice and dispute resolution assistance. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit who believes that these borrowers have a right to a trusted resource with industry experience to mentor, educate and advocate for them. Student loan borrowers have a right to such a resource without being charged a fee, barraged with advertisements or forced to provide personal information that may later be sold.

Our goal is to help you help yourself. We are not here to manage your student loans for you, but to give you expert advice and help you to manage them successfully. We will offer fair, neutral advice that outlines what you are eligible for that is in line with current regulation and statute.

What We Can Do For You

• Offer expert advice on your student loans
• Help you decide which repayment plan make the most sense for you
• Determine if you are eligible for loan forgiveness or discharge
• Offer guidance in any dispute you may have regarding your student loans
• Guide you through completing required forms and applications
• Help you get out of a default or delinquency status
  
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What We Cannot Do For you

• Offer legal advice
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• Fill out or submit your forms for you
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• Change the law or regulations
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From James D. August 1, 2018

“I am very happy that I found freestudentloanadvice.org. I was very frustrated with trying to solve my student loan issues on my own and Betsy was such a great help with advice and follow up. Thank you so much!”

How We Are Funded

At the core of TISLA’s values is the promise of free, neutral and transparent student loan advice. For that reason, we do not accept advertising funds from any businesses nor fees from consumers. TISLA is funded through grants, donations and our fee for service products we offer to employers, schools and associations with constituencies concerned with student debt. 

Such donations and partnerships will be listed on this page to ensure continued transparency. If you are interested in helping to fund TISLA, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, please contact betsy “at” freestudentloanadvice.org or donate through donorbox online.

TISLA 2018 Annual Report

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TISLA offers several affordable and customizable packages to suit your constituencies needs for expert student loan repayment education and assistance.  These offerings are suitable for employers looking to attract and retain valuable employees or schools who wish to provide student loan assistance to their alumni, students and employees.  Our services can also be a way for associations to provide additional value to their members.  Please contact betsy “at” freestudentloanadvice.org for more information on partnering with TISLA.

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TISLA is currently completing its board roster. If you, or someone you know, has a passion for the issue of student debt, can contribute their business, non-profit or other expertise and influence, and would like to consider serving, please contact betsy “at” freestudentloanadvice.org

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To make certain that all student loan borrowers have access to free, neutral and accurate resources and mentoring to ensure they can successfully manage their student loan debt.

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See more at https://public.tableau.com/profile/federal.trade.commission#!/

For the first time, imposter scams topped the list of consumer complaints submitted in 2018 to the Federal Trade Commission’s nationwide Consumer Sentinel database, driven in part by a jump in reports about government imposter scams.


Fraudsters operating government imposter scams falsely claim to be from the Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration, or another government agency to get people to turn over money or personal information. Government imposter scams made up nearly half of the 535,417 imposter scam reports to the FTC in 2018. Consumers reported losing a total of nearly $488 million to all types of imposter scams in 2018—more than any other type of fraud—and reported a median loss of $500.


Many government imposter scam reports involved fraudsters who falsely claimed to be from the Social Security Administration. These scammers typically tell people their Social Security number has been suspended, or that there is some other problem, in an effort to get them to reveal their Social Security number or pay money to “reactivate” it. In reality, Social Security numbers are never suspended and the Social Security Administration will never require you to pay to obtain one.


“If you get a call out of the blue from someone claiming to be from a government agency like the Social Security Administration or IRS asking you for personal information or money, it’s a scam,” said Andrew Smith, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “You should hang up immediately and report it to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint.”


Increase in Reports, Fraud Losses

In all, the FTC received nearly three million complaints from consumers in 2018. Consumers reported losing nearly $1.48 billion to fraud in 2018—38 percent more than the year before. Debt collection complaints dropped to the number two spot after topping the FTC’s list of consumer complaints for the previous three years.


Identity theft was the third most common complaint, and consistently ranks among the top consumer complaints made to the FTC. There was a 24 percent increase last year in identity theft reports that involved credit card fraud on new accounts. At the same time, there was a large drop (38 percent) in reports involving tax identity theft.


As in previous years, wire transfers and credit cards were the first and second most widely reported form of payment for fraud. In 2018, however, a growing number of consumers reported that scammers demanded to be paid with gift and reload cards. The number of consumers who said they paid with a gift or reload card grew from over 28,000 in 2017 to more than 41,000 in 2018, while the total amount paid using a gift or reload card to scammers nearly doubled to $78 million.


As in 2017, more consumers in their twenties who reported fraud said they lost money (43 percent) compared with those in their seventies (15 percent). Yet when those in their seventies reported losing money to fraud, the median amount they lost was much larger ($750), compared with those in their twenties ($400).


The data book includes national statistics, as well as a state-by-state listing of top report categories in each state, and a listing of metropolitan areas that generated the most complaints per 100,000 population. The top states in 2018 reporting fraud and other consumer issues were Florida, Georgia, and Nevada, while Georgia, Nevada, and California had the most reports about identity theft, per 100,000 population.


The FTC produces the Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book annually using reports received by the Consumer Sentinel Network. These include reports made directly by consumers to the FTC, as well as reports received by state and federal law enforcement agencies, national consumer protection organizations, and non-governmental organizations. In October 2018, the FTC began releasing consumer complaint data on a quarterly basis through a new interactive online format.


The Consumer Sentinel Network’s secure online database is currently available to more than 2,500 individual users in civil and criminal law enforcement agencies across the country and abroad. Agencies use the data to research cases, identify victims and track possible targets. Although non-governmental organizations may contribute data to the database, only law enforcement agencies can access the database. Law enforcement personnel can join Sentinel at Register.ConsumerSentinel.gov.


The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about consumer topics and file a consumer complaint online or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357). Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, read our blogs, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.

CONTACT FOR CONSUMERS:  Consumer Response Center   877-382-4357

Hon. Ellen Rosenblum
Attorney General

The transition to an all-digital world is bad for elders — very bad.
Here is just today's plea for help for an elder, the latest edition of something I’m seeing more and more. An astonishing amount more in just the last few years.

A friend of mine has come to me because her elderly aunt has been scammed. Essentially, as I understand it, someone hit her with ransom ware. Then somehow got her on the phone. They said they were ransoming her computer and could use it to drain her bank account. She ultimately was taken for 38k. She is 71 and not particularly savvy. She wants Bank of America to review the charges and reverse or refund them as fraudulent. My guess is the actual scammers are out of reach.   

As I understand it, this has been reported to the police and an initial request has been submitted to the bank and denied. She is currently considering submitting a letter to appeal that decision and request reconsideration.

Our laws are inadequate for this. If someone knocked Grandma on the head, she could get some help from the Crime Victims Compensation Fund. But because they used her computer and her phone to scam her, Crime Victims Fund won’t even talk to her. 

Global internet and phone means every criminal in the world is just as close to and just as able to scam Grandma as the criminals in her town.

We need to devise means by which elders can be protected from these scams, which are proliferating wildly (exponentially).

The cost of running these scams is in the pennies range and the rewards are often in the tens of thousands of dollars.

And the risk to the scammers is zero. Absolutely zero.

We need a huge public education campaign, funded by the banks and credit unions that make this sort of thing possible and that profit greatly by elimination of human staff and moving all account management functions into the Wild Wild West of the lawless internet.

More importantly, we need to require depositary institutions to offer special higher-protection accounts, where consumers can get the main benefits of online accounts but without having to bear all the risk of being able to transfer their nest-egg to the scammers with a mouse-click or phone-check.

These higher-protection accounts would have guardrails built into their settings so that an elder would be unable to make payments to a new payee above a nominal amount without getting the bank’s security personnel involved, so that Grandma is not able to send off her nest egg in the middle of the night to the voice on the phone.

Please work with the legislature to devise laws to help protect Oregon’s seniors from the dark side of the technological wonderland they’ve found themselves in.

Consumers prefer a paper trail
Contact: Ruth Susswein, 301-718-2511 Linda Sherry 202- 544-3088 
     
The message is clear: Consumers overwhelmingly prefer to receive bills and statements on paper rather than electronically, according to a new survey of more than 2,600 people by the non-profit Consumer Action.Up to three-quarters of those surveyed opted for bills to arrive by mail. For each of nine types of bills and invoices, consumers chose paper over digital delivery: insurance (66%), utilities (63%), medical bills (74%), property taxes (71%), internet services (51%), mortgages (45%), motor vehicle renewals (69%), credit cards (61%) and phone bills (56%).
“Even more compelling is the fact that respondents accessed our survey online and still prefer to receive paper statements for most important bills and notices,” noted Consumer Action’s Director of National Priorities, Linda Sherry.
Many of those who gave reasons for their paper preference mentioned the ease of viewing and accessing the bills for future reference. Paper statements help some people remember to pay their bills on time.
“We manage numerous accounts for which paper files are kept. We have power outages fairly regularly and sometimes need answers when there is no access to my records kept electronically,” explained one survey respondent.
For some older, disabled or lower-income consumers, paper documents are not just an option, they’re a necessity. Those who are not tech-savvy, have difficulty using a computer or have no internet access at home find paper statements essential.
More than one-third (38%) of respondents said they prefer mailed copies of other important communications from service providers, and nearly as many (35%) said it depends on the type of communication. Twenty-six percent chose email or online notice. Consumers prefer paper notices for:

• Bank statements (57%)
  
• Medicare and prescription drug summaries (55%)
• Social Security statements (68%)
  

The only category where respondents prefer to receive information electronically—51 percent—was data use and privacy notices.
However, the majority (55.5%) of survey respondents said they prefer to pay their bills online.
What’s more, how consumers receive the bill does affect how likely they are to review the details. More than three-quarters (78%) of those who receive bills by mail said they review the transactions printed on paper statements. Of those who receive bills electronically, less than half—only 43 percent—said they go online to review their transaction details.
While the majority of respondents (66%) have not been charged to receive a paper statement, there is some cost-shifting. Nearly 9 percent of respondents said they have paid a paper-statement fee for phone, pay TV or cable bills, and 16 percent have paid for bank statements.
“No one should be forced to receive [bills and notices] electronically only, or to pay to receive proper notices and statements by mail,” said a survey respondent.
Under the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (E-Sign) Act, if the law requires that a statement or disclosure be made in writing, financial institutions can substitute electronic statements for paper ones, but only with a customer’s consent. As a member of the Keep Me Posted campaign, Consumer Action supports an individual’s right to choose between receiving important financial information online or in print and believes that paper should be the default.

“Customers should get paper bills and statements until they proactively consent to electronic delivery,” said Sherry. “Bottom line, consumers need to know that they have the right to switch back to paper at any time they desire.”
For more on what consumers’ rights are in receiving a statement of their choice, see Consumer Action’s latest issue of Consumer Action News: Paper or digital?  (https://www.consumer-action.org/news/articles/paper-or-digital-winter-2018-2019)

Consumer Action’s online survey of 2,607 people was conducted from Nov. 7-27, 2018.
The results may not be cited for commercial or advertising purposes.
To view the full survey, visit: http://bit.ly/paper_digital.

Latest Consumer Protection Data Spotlight Finds Seniors Sending Thousands in Cash to Scammers Claiming to be their Grandchildren

Older consumers who report losing money to fraud are reporting a disturbing trend: Scammers claiming to be a loved one in trouble are getting people 70 and over to send thousands of dollars in cash.

In the second Consumer Protection Data Spotlight, the Federal Trade Commission examined complaints about family and friend imposter scams. These scammers often call seniors claiming to be a grandchild. The FTC is seeing an increase in the number of people ages 70 and over who say they sent cash in response to this particular scam – one in four said they mailed cash in 2018, compared to one in fourteen the prior year. In about half of these types of complaints, the scammer said they were in jail or some other legal trouble and in need of money to get out of trouble.


All age groups reported losing more money over the last 12 months to family and friend imposter scams – a total of $41 million, compared to $26 million the previous year. The most striking concern is individual losses by older Americans. The median loss for this scam was $2,000, but when seniors ages 70 and over said they put cash in the mail, their median loss was $9,000.

The FTC urges those who might get such a call to not act right away. Instead, the FTC recommends calling the family member or friend using a known number, or checking out the request with someone else in their family or a mutual friend.

The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about consumer topics and file a consumer complaint online or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357). 

Contact Information
CONTACT FOR CONSUMERS:
Consumer Response Center
877-382-4357


Related Resources

• Consumer Protection Data Spotlight: New twist to grandparent scam: mail cash

For Consumers

• Blog: Putting cash in the mail