Consumer Credit and Debt

Occupy Still Really Mad at Wells Fargo, Plans to Announce New Campaign Today

It's been a while since we've heard any rumblings from Occupy and disgruntled homeowners in general. But that's not to say they haven't been actively pissed-off. In fact, the group has been working up a new campaign, behind the scenes, which they plan to launch today. This morning, homeowners/Occu ... More >>

Student Loans: The Government's Arbitrary Collections System

UC College Girls Tap Sugar Daddies for Tuition

UC college chicks don't need daddy to pay for school and all those four-year parties anymore, but what they do need are their sugar daddies. A new study shows that an increasing number of female students from UC Berkeley and UC Davis are tapping sugar daddies for college tuition -- and they have hi ... More >>

Few Homeowners Have Requested Independent Foreclosure Reviews

By now, it's old news that many people lost or nearly lost their home because of banks' errors during the foreclosure crisis. A 2010 ProPublica analysis, for example, found that around a quarter of loan modification rejections occurred because the mortgage service provider couldn't find certain docu ... More >>

Nationstar Calls Off Bayview Foreclosure, Sheriff Is a No-Show for Scheduled Eviction

It looks like Nationstar has become the latest lender to hop onto the Bayview foreclosure bandwagon, and thus they are the latest lender being targeted by neighborhood activists.This morning, the hard-working folks that make up Occupy Bernal joined the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerm ... More >>

For-Profit Colleges: Predators in the Ivory Tower

Were You Ripped Off by a Payday Loan Company? Go Get Your Refund at City Hall

Well, this is odd. The City Attorney's Office is having some trouble getting consumers to come down to City Hall and claim their free money.So now we're publicizing it: If you've been ripped off by payday loans, here's your opportunity to get some of your hard-earned cash back. Today, City Attorney ... More >>

Selfish Mortgage Scammers Slammed With $4 Million Fine

Here's yet another reason SoCal doesn't give us a warm and fuzzy feeling. Attorney General Harris announced yesterday that folks who were busted operating a national loan modification scam down in south have been ordered to pay a $4 million bill for their crime. Two million dollars of this is suppos ... More >>

Here's What the State's Historic Foreclosure Protection Bill Means to Homeowners

One of the worst parts of going through a foreclosure is the sense of helplessness. There's a lot of waiting and hoping and let-me-transfer-you-over run-arounds. The process feels closed and distant, marked by indifferent operators and vague brief loan modification denial letters. Yesterday the Cal ... More >>

The Dispossessed: Geary Brown Dodges Eviction

In a feature story last month, "The Dispossessed," we wrote about a Bayview homeowner named Geary Brown who was on the verge of getting evicted.He had been foreclosed on after he missed several mortgage payments while seeking to modify his loan.Bank of America, which owned his mortgage, had put his ... More >>

Occupy Bernal Postpones Visit to Wealthy Wells Fargo Lobbyist at Home

(Update 8:23 a.m.): We've just been informed that Occupy has postponed the planned march over to Alfredo Pedroza's house tonight while they negotiate with Mayor Ed Lee. According to Buck Bagot, the group is hopeful they can make progress today "toward the cancellation of scheduled foreclosure-relate ... More >>

BOSF 2012: How to Find an Apartment

Wells Fargo Accused Giving "Illusionary Loans" to Financially Stressed Family

A Missouri couple is taking Wells Fargo to court, attempting to recover money on behalf of all the folks out there who were duped into taking temporary loan modifications from the San Francisco-based bank.According to a lawsuit filed in San Francisco this week, Vicki and Richard Sutcliffe claim Well ... More >>

The Dispossessed: Bayview Homeowners Fight Foreclosures

S.F. Student Accuses Bank of "Double-Dipping" Late Fees

It's bad enough having to pay student loan late fees -- but imagine having to pay them twice. That's just what a Bay Area student says happened to her when the bank charged her two times for student-loan late fees. Tina Ubaldi is suing Sallie Mae and its affiliates, claiming unfair business prac ... More >>

Parker Gibbs' Annual Holiday Craptacular: Show Preview

Occupy SF to Open People's Reserve Credit Union

Occupy is doing something besides squatting ​A few weeks ago, we got a real kick out of the fact that Occupy Oakland deposited a $20,000 donation it received into Wells Fargo -- one of the many big banks the movement has been actively protesting since September. Say what you want about Occupy  ... More >>

Bayview Man Claims Chase Bank Trashed His Loan Modification Agreement

​Robert Davis was profiled on the radio as a success story -- a Bayview resident facing foreclosure who beat the odds and secured a home loan modification from Chase. In March, it looked like his story had a happy ending: Chase approved him for a permanent loan modification that allowed him to kee ... More >>

Michael Lewis profiles the nervy investors who made a fortune from the financial crisis

Li Po Lounge: Chinatown Poem

No Justice

Despite Obama's promises of change, corporate crooks are still going unpunished for their roles in the financial collapse.

Stimulus Wreckage

Despite having been accused of deceptive business practices by the attorney general, former students, and ex-employees, Corinthian Colleges are getting millions in federal stimulus dollars.

City Attorney Dennis Herrera Ups Ante in S.F.-Minnesota Credit Card Credit-Hogging Dispute

Don't worry, hypothetical Michigan Tech alum Chris L. Martin! Dennis Herrera has got your back.​When Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson hogged credit last month for attacking a loophole companies use to prevent consumer lawsuits, observers said San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera was g ... More >>

U.C. Berkeley Alumni Data Is Breached ... Again.

Social Security Number ... robble robble​Where's the security, U.C. Berkeley? For the second time in four months, I'm being told by my alma mater that a hacker may have access to my birth date and social security number. I had to read about the first security breach in the Chronicle. Overseas hack ... More >>

State Bar Takes Over 'Son of Super Swindler' Law Firm -- 2,000 Con Jobs Too Late

The State Bar of California has taken over the law firm of Mitchell Roth, who had, in partnership with convicted felon Paul Noe II, convinced more than 2,000 troubled homeowners to fall for an apparent "foreclosure assistance" scam.The apparent swindle, fist described in the September, 2008 SF Weekl ... More >>

Shave It Off

The American Dream's $700 billion price tag

Free association economy

Press Democrat Gives Misleading Solace to Area Bank Depositers

Angel Behind Bars

Breaking Up: Now Even More Awkward And Painful!

How to Make Student Loans Your Bitch- By Laser-Guided Awesome, The SF Weekly Utility Blog

Golden Gate Skateparks and Venezuelan Wage-Fixing — It's SFGovernmentInAction!!!

Burnt Chefs

Former admissions representatives at CCA say they preyed on students’ dreams of becoming celebrity chefs and glossed over the painful economic realities of the industry

Best Mortuary

Pacific Interment

Rebuilding Credit

San Francisco's Providian Financial was once the most despised company in the credit card industry. Now, after a humbling fall, it just wants to be loved.

Thrift and Consequences

How a supervisor with just $42,500 in income services $1 million in mortgages

School of Hard Knocks

State laws regulating vocational schools have been gutted. Disadvantaged students are paying the price.

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