Consumer Protection

Like pressure building invisibly along an earthquake fault, a crisis is mounting for homeowners who won't have enough insurance to cover their losses in a fire, earthquake or other catastrophe. Major insurance companies have quietly slashed their policyholders' coverage in recent years, raising deductibles, lowering caps and, perhaps most important, doing away with guaranteed-replacement coverage that promised to rebuild a damaged home regardless of the cost.

Tired of getting sweepstakes entry forms that suggest you've already won a prize? Starting next year California law will allow sweepstakes companies to identify someone as a winner only when they are really a winner. "Misleading statements and false promises by sweepstakes companies have lured people into purchasing items they may not want or need," said Gov. Pete Wilson.

Fearing that the Russian ruble crisis could bankrupt most of the country's commercial banks, the governor of the Central Bank on Thursday promised full guarantees for individuals' deposits. Russia's banks have become the latest focus of concern as a nationwide crisis of confidence continued in the wake of Monday's decision by the cash-strapped government to devalue the ruble and default on some debt.

The United States needs a "food safety czar" to take charge of a crazy-quilt system that falls short of ensuring sound scientific protection against food-borne illness, an independent research panel told Congress on Thursday.

In recent years, homeowners have been inundated with unexpected "junk" fees at the close of escrow when refinancing or buying a home. Here are a few such fees that appear to be relatively common and what consumer experts believe they mean: * Document preparation: Someone typed, copied and collated your loan application. * Appraisal review: A bank employee read the appraisal report, which you also paid for separately, to be sure that your house is worth more than the loan amount.

Kathy and David Binninger got a costly lesson in surprise fees when they refinanced their home earlier this year. And it's a lesson consumer advocates say is all too common lately. The longtime homeowners had bought, sold and refinanced properties several times before--but when they went in to complete this deal, David Binninger was convinced there must have been a mistake.

In a groundbreaking case that strikes at the heart of consumers' growing fears about online privacy, GeoCities settled government charges Thursday that it collected personal information about its customers, including children, then sold the data to marketers in violation of its own stated privacy policies. The case marks the first time government regulators have formally accused any site on the Internet, let alone one as popular as GeoCities with its 2 million members, of such deception.

In a remarkable admission, two federal agencies have told Congress that key portions of the principal national consumer protection law for home buyers and mortgage refinancers cannot be enforced.

A report by an influential group representing the medical, legal and private arbitration professions has recommended scrapping the practice of requiring mandatory arbitration of patients' health-care disputes in favor of a voluntary system. The report, coming amid a national debate on managed-care industry reforms, is expected to heighten pressure on health insurers to change the way they resolve patient disputes.

Vice President Al Gore said Wednesday that 180,000 people die each year in hospitals because of preventable errors as he announced a cooperative effort by business groups, employers and health professionals to create a set of basic quality standards for all health programs.