Consumers' Checkbook

1 week ago | checkbook.org | Jennifer Barger

Hotel reservation sites showcase abundant guest ratings, 3D room tours, and tools letting you filter properties by features from location to pet friendliness. So why does it feel so nightmarish now to book a pleasant stay—and why have so many hotels seen a drop in guest satisfaction? I’m often challenged to find hotels I like.

1 week ago | checkbook.org | Herb Weisbaum

Are we headed into a recession? How much will tariffs drive up the cost of living? Will I ever be able to build some savings? A pervasive feeling of uncertainty about the economy, largely due to actions taken by the Trump administration, is “significantly impacting” people’s perception of financial well-being, leaving many feeling “stuck despite their best efforts,” according to the 2025 Financial Literacy and Preparedness Survey from the nonprofit National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

2 weeks ago | checkbook.org | Herb Weisbaum

After a pause of more than five years, on May 5 the federal government will resume collections on defaulted student loans. The U.S. Department of Education will target borrowers who haven’t made payments for 270 days or more. The department’s Federal Student Aid (FSA) office will notify borrowers via email that their loans are entering “involuntary” collection unless they start making payments or enroll in an Education Department forbearance or deferment program.

4 weeks ago | checkbook.org | Herb Weisbaum

A federal court judge in Texas scrapped a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule that would have limited “excessive” credit card late fees to $8. Judge Mark Pittman, who had already blocked the CFPB from implementing the fee cap, decided the rule illegally prohibited credit card companies from charging “reasonable and proportional” fees.

4 weeks ago | checkbook.org | Herb Weisbaum

In a major win for the banking industry, Congress has overturned a Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) rule that would have limited overdraft fees to $5 at the nation’s largest banks and credit unions (those with more than $10 billion in assets that levy more than 80 percent of all overdraft charges each year). The rule, one of the CFPB’s last regulatory efforts of the Biden Administration, was projected to save U.S. consumers roughly $5 billion annually.