I’ve always been someone who believes that consumer rights policies and laws have been written and implemented for us, the consumers and we have a responsibility to use them when we feel we’ve been mistreated.  I’ve always been a letter-writer, and believe that if phone calls don’t work, and a letter to the top of the organization does not produce results, complaints must be filed so that the issue creating a problem will be examined and addressed by the regulatory agency in charge of oversight.

Our taxes pay for these laws and their enforcement.  If we don’t hold companies – who use our money to earn profits – responsible for the goods or service they provide, harmful practices will continue.

“Our Money – Our Rights!” We must use our rights, even if the process seems complicated at times.

Since being charged a late fee of $500 in 2007,  we have been involved in a long and drawn out battle with with the national bank who bought the little community bank that we signed a mortgage with in 1987.  The case is ongoing and has taught us lessons about “allowed abuse,” how to report abuse, how to file complaints and the complex ways banks operate that may violate rules and laws that we aren’t expected to know about or understand.

Living with this case, though, has left me with a better understanding of complaints and resolutions. In addition to  mortgage laws and regulations, I’ve gathered knowledge about other areas of every-day consumer life.  I continue to challenge unfair practices, consumer product and service issues, and consumer satisfaction issues.

I’ve watched laws change and develop to address the current issues. The best thing that has happened to consumers who have problems with any type of financial product or service – banks, credit cards etc – is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. So many people don’t recognize who they are, what they do and how they can help us.

I will share these issues because so many of us use the same companies or find ourselves in similar positions. I will point you to links to forms you can fill out, complaints you can file, phone numbers to call and ways you can take the same actions I take.

I’m a busy person, so this blog may not be updated daily, but if you use the link on the right to sign up for updates – you will receive an email when I create a post about anything new.  I won’t send you spam; that’s one of the issues I complain about on a regular basis! I invite you to submit your own stories about fighting and winning in any consumer issue. Email me: MiddleClassAdvocacy@gmail.com

In the mean time, again, one of the most important and effective agencies out there right now is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/.

They WANT to hear from you, whether it’s a checking account fee you believe is wrong, issues with student loans, credit reporting, car loans, refinancing, credit cards, mortgages etc. Anything related to consumer finance.

Please visit their site. Not just for complaints, but they also want to hear your story. What issues do you have? What works? What doesn’t? It is there for us and is full of important information.  It is a gift to consumers resulting from Dodd/Frank bill – Elizabeth Warren and others …. (Let’s not let Congress dismantle this regulatory agency as they are constantly trying to do, it is there to protect US as in you and I and the U.S.)

I’ll share what I know and what I learn with you. (Image by Sandra Boyton; like her Facebook page to get regular posts in your feed with her clever messages.)