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Originally, the bankruptcy laws were a catch-all for handling aggressive and dishonest lending allowing people to completely remove their debts once every 7 years. That way, even if someone made mistakes or was suckered in by bad credit deals, they could escape them under some circumstances and start over.

Lenders weren't happy with this and wanted it to be much harder for people to get out of the credit programs they carefully lured you into. They scored victory in 2005 by managing to secure a new law that made it much tougher for people to file bankruptcy, but didn't do anything to help curb the massive lending abuses by credit grantors. Now it seems the one-sided bill may have hurt lenders as much as it's helped them.

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The Consumerist is having a contest for "Worst Company in America" and the top contenders have come down to Comcast and Countrywide Home Loans.

The winner will receive a "golden poo" award which they can proudly display in their central office or on their website. Get over there and cast your vote!

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I've seen businesses do 4 and 5 so I guess next time, I'll call them on it.

1. Unsigned Cards Are Not Valid And Merchants Can And Will Refuse Them
2. The Maximum Liability For Unauthorized Use Of A Credit Card (not debit even if it's got a credit card logo) Is $50 According To Federal Law
3. Merchants Cannot Require You To Present ID, Unless Your Card Is Unsigned
4. Merchants Cannot Require A Minimum Transaction Amount
5. Merchants Cannot Charge A Surcharge For Using A Credit Card, However, They Can Offer A "Cash Discount"
6. Many Credit Cards Have Programs That Will Automatically Double The Manufacturer's Warranty And Other Excellent Benefits
7. Merchants Are Not Allowed To Make You Give Up Your Right To A Chargeback
8. Merchants Are Not Allowed To Place A Hold For The Estimated Tip
9. If Merchants Suspect You Of Fraud They Are Supposed To Call With A "Code 10"
10. If Merchants Break These Rules, You Can Report Them To The Credit Card Company

Read the details for each of these at The Consumerist.

Tags: Credit Cards

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If you've been listening to the commercials by the smooth talking Dennis Haysbert to be in "good hands" with Allstate, you might need to reconsider.

[Allstate ranked first] among 10 companies that do everything possible to avoid paying claims, employ hardball tactics against policyholders, reward executives with extravagant salaries, and raise premiums to maximize profits

State Farm also made the list, but Geico is absent.

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I've written about Lifelock's morally dubious advertising techniques before, but this is certainly new. Lifelock has been accused of paying for sponsored links to their competitor NAMESAFE which, when clicked, take you not to NAME SAFE, but Lifelock.

I would be very surprised if this wasn't considered fraud and I'm interested to see what happens as a result.

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Now they have lego block candies and some people aren't too happy about it.

I just spent the first three years of my sons life trying to get him not to eat blocks, and now you're telling him they taste like ****ing strawberries

Don't call me

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Before when you put your name on the list, you'd have to renew every now and then. This was, in my opinion, a move that was designed to make more work for average people and give telemarketers a chance to get at you again when you forgot and let the block lapse. Well they've FINALLY made it permanent. Opt-out once and it lasts forever.