AGO News Releases With Topic: Consumer Protection

 State Attorney General warns borrowers to avoid mortgage-related scams SPOKANE –  Alexa Young always made her mortgage payments “on time, every time.” Yet, like millions of Americans, recent events conspired to put pressure on the Spokane single mom’s budget, making her monthly mortgage payment harder to meet. After two expensive surgeries and a reduction in the amount of incoming child support, Young found herself at the breaking point. Her mortgage payment was nearly half of her monthly income, leaving barely enough for necessities. She contacted her lender in an attempt to work out new loan terms.

SEATTLE – Reality star Kim Kardashian, fresh from a sweaty workout, decides to dump her personal trainer. “It’s not someone else, it’s something else” said the celebutante in a recent television advertisement. After a gratuitous shot of one of the starlet’s most photographed body parts and a scene of Kardashian glamorously lacing up a pair of Skechers, text on the screen says, “Bye-bye trainer, hello Shape Ups.”

GRAND MOUND, Wash.—A group of young Southeast Asian American students shared their experiences as members of a Seattle film project and walked away with the Grand Prize at the 2012 Spring Youth Forum-- a $3,000 partial scholarship to an upcoming prevention leadership conference.

Settlements involving consumer protection, Medicaid claims over illegal marketing of Depakote SEATTLE – Working with other states, attorneys for the Washington State Attorney General’s Office have recovered more than $12 million through settlements with Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories, accused of illegally marketing an anti-seizure drug. The state will recover more than $10 million, split with the federal government, in a multi-state Medicaid fraud case against the company and more than $2 million from a consumer protection case.

 Adscend Media LLC also pays $100,000 in attorneys’ fees to state SEATTLE – The owners of a California-based online marketing company have agreed to stop spamming Facebook users. The details were revealed today in a settlement – a consent decree – between Adscend Media LLC and the Washington State Attorney General’s Office.

State Attorney General warns borrowers to avoid mortgage-related scams UNIVERSITY PLACE –  About a year ago, Irene Failor was on a ladder repairing her roof. Looking down, she watched a man walk up and nail a foreclosure notice to her house. 

VANCOUVER – “I just started to accept that I was going to lose the house I raised my kids in – that I thought I’d spend my final years in,” Vancouver’s Jim Fleming explains.

State Attorney General warns borrowers to avoid mortgage-related scams

SEATTLE – The record $25 billion dollar national mortgage servicing settlement over alleged widespread mortgage fraud, negotiated by Attorney General Rob McKenna along with 48 state attorneys general and the federal government, is now finalized by court order.

“Comprehensive integration” of consumer data may compromise privacy SEATTLE – In a letter to Google Chief Executive Larry Page, Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna and 35 other state attorneys general outlined concerns about big changes to Google’s privacy policy. State attorneys general say the changes, going into effect on March 1, threaten the confidentiality of Google customers.  State AGs also say it has the potential to heighten the risk of identity theft and fraud, given that Google plans to store more detailed customer information.