How to Open and Manage a Checking Account
(Separate Website)
A checking account is a very convenient tool for managing your money. With it you can pay bills, purchase items and withdraw funds as needed. This workbook has been designed to teach you: (1) the benefits of a checking account, (2) how to pen a checking account, (3) how to make a deposit, (4) how to endorse checks, (5) how to use a check register, (5) how to use an automated teller machine, (6) how to write a check, (7) how to read your monthly statement, (8) how to balance your checkbook, and (9) what happens if you bounce a check.
By: Consumer Credit Counseling Service
What You Should Know about Your Checks
(Separate Website)
An informative resource on checks.
By: The Federal Reserve Board
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Spanish / Español
When Is Your Check Not a Check? Electronic Check Conversion
(Separate Website)
Suppose you’re at a store making a purchase and decide to pay by check—at least, that’s what you believe you’re doing. The clerk asks you for a check that is completely filled out, partially filled out, or even blank. The clerk then runs the check through a machine and hands the voided check back to you with your receipt. What just happened? Did you pay by check? Why did the clerk return the check to you? The answer is, you just experienced electronic check conversion. The following questions and answers explain how electronic check conversion works and what your rights are as a consumer.
By: Federal Reserve Board
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Spanish / Español
Automatic Teller Machines and the Law
(Separate Website)
Downtown, at the mall, at the superstore—everywhere—an automatic teller machine (ATM) is there, ready to give you cash in exchange for a swipe of your plastic and a few magic numbers. That convenience, however, comes with a certain amount of expense and some exposure to risk as well.
By: American Bar Association
Community Reinvestment Act: Does Your Bank Measure Up?
(Separate Website)
Community Reinvestment: Does Your Bank Measure Up? Under the Community Reinvestment Act, the Federal Reserve Banks evaluate banks' records of meeting the credit needs of communities—including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. When banks apply for permission to expand, merge or acquire another institution, the government takes into account whether the bank has been meeting the credit needs of its community.
Learn about the Congressional Act enacted in 1997 to encourage insured banks and other depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of their communities.
By: Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Protecting Yourself from Overdraft and Bounced-Check Fees
(Separate Website)
This website explains the best ways to avoid overdraft and bounced-check fees
By: The Federal Reserve Board
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Spanish / Español
Don't Pay to Borrow Your Own Money: The Risks and Costs of Tax Refund Anticipation Loans
(Separate Website)
How would you like to pay a super-high price to borrow money that already belongs to you? Sounds ridiculous, right? But that's pretty much what happens to many folks at tax time. You may be tempted by tax-time advertisements for "Fast Cash Refunds," "Express Money" or "Instant Refunds." Beware! Many of these "fast refunds" are really LOANS, refund anticipation loans, with extremely high interest rates!
By: National Consumer Law Center
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Chinese / 中文
,
Korean / 한국어
,
Russian / Pусский
,
Spanish / Español
,
Vietnamese / Tiếng Việt
Credit Card Catch
(Separate Website)
You might think that as long as you pay your credit card bill on time, your credit card company can’t raise your interest rates without giving you fair warning-guess again. Increasingly common among credit card companies is what’s known as a “universal default” policy. These policies are often hidden in the fine print of your credit card agreement or may be tucked away as a policy update in one of the many flyers or special offers you receive from the company throughout the year.
It's bad enough that credit card companies aren’t usually up front about their universal default policies, but what makes universal default even worse is that it may have nothing to do with your payment history on your credit card account or any of your other debts.
By: Barnes Law Group
Advance-fee Loan Scams
(Separate Website)
Advance-fee loan sharks are preying on unwary consumers, taking their money for the promise of a loan or credit, and leaving them in hot water. The scam artists often impersonate legitimate lenders to entice consumers into falling for their bogus offer.
By: Federal Trade Commission
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Spanish / Español
Borrower Beware: The High Cost of Small Loans, Pawn Brokers and Rent-to-Own Stores
(Separate Website)
When you need cash, you should beware of some of the companies and people who make loans. This web page tells you what to watch for when you do business with small loan companies, pawn brokers and rent-to-own stores.
By: National Consumer Law Center
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Chinese / 中文
,
Korean / 한국어
,
Russian / Pусский
,
Spanish / Español
,
Vietnamese / Tiếng Việt
The High Cost of Payday Loans
(Separate Website)
Payday loans go by a variety of names, including "deferred presentments", "cash advances", deferred deposits", or "check loans", but they all work in the same way. The difference between the amount of the check and the amount of cash the customer gets in return is interest or a loan fee that the lender is charging. These types of short-term loans are always very expensive.
By: National Consumer Law Center
Mortgage and Real Estate Loans Information from the Federal Trade Commission
(Separate Website)
This web site contains documents relating to: (1) home equity loans, home equity credit lines and common home equity scams, (2) high rate, high fee mortgages, (3) reverse mortgages, (4) payday loans, and (5) mortgage discrimination. You may view the documents on-line and print them out or print them in PDF format.
By: Federal Trade Commission
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Spanish / Español
Know the Risks When Co-Signing a Car Loan
(Separate Website)
Almost everyone I know believes in supporting the people they love during times of need. Sometimes, however, offering a helping hand can mean going out on a limb, especially when you’ve been asked to cosign a loan.
By: Consumer Credit Counseling Service
Basic Debt Collection and Consumer Protection in Georgia
This document describes the law relating to debt collection and basic consumer protection laws, answering the following questions: Why do you need to understand your contract before signing it? How can creditors collect debts? How can consumers protect themselves? The document is an excerpt from An Introduction to Law in Georgia,
Fourth Edition, published by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, 1998 (updated 2004).
By: Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia
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Spanish / Español
Basics of Borrowing and Credit in Georgia
This document discusses the basic law relating to borrowing and credit, including: What do people do when they do not have the cash to buy something they need? What is credit? What is the difference between a loan and a credit sale? What is the difference between secured and unsecured credit? What is open-end credit? What is closed-end credit? What do you do if you find a mistake in your monthly credit card statement? The document is excerpted from An Introduction to Law in Georgia, Fourth Edition, published by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, 1998 (updated 2004).
By: Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia
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Spanish / Español
Basics of Obtaining Credit in Georgia
This document discusses the basic law relating to borrowing and credit, answering the following questions: How do you get credit if you do not have it? What happens if your credit report is wrong? What if you are denied credit because of discrimination? How much does credit cost? What does a creditor have to disclose to you before you sign up for a credit card? How do usury laws regulate credit cards? The document is an excerpt from An Introduction to Law in Georgia, Fourth Edition, published by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, 1998 (updated 2004).
By: Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia
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Spanish / Español
Building Wealth: A Beginner's Guide to Your Financial Future
(Separate Website)
Building Wealth: A Beginner's Guide to Securing Your Financial Future offers introductory guidance to individuals and families seeking help to develop a plan for building personal wealth. While a comprehensive discussion of accounting, finance and investment options is beyond the scope of this workbook, it presents an overview of personal wealth-building strategies.
By: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Consumer Credit Counseling Service Debt Management Plan
(Separate Website)
Consumer Credit Counseling Service's repayment plan has been designed to help you make the transition to debt-free living a gradual and smooth process. It allows for one monthly deposit for all creditors, provides relief from creditor calls, reduces personal stress, and may lower interest charges on some debts. The repayment plan is in PDF format.
By: Consumer Credit Counseling Service
Credit
(Separate Website)
The use of credit is a way of life in the United States. At any one time, about three-fourths of American households have some form of debt, including credit purchases of cars, appliances, clothing, vacation trips and other goods and services. Just over two-fifths of households have loans secured by their homes—in other words, mortgages. This web site will help you understand the rules, regulations, and laws about consumer installment credit, designed to protect you, the consumer.
By: American Bar Association
EarnBenefits Online
(Separate Website)
How to get free checking accounts, homebuying resources, repairing your credit
By: Seedco
Fast Facts on Consumer Rights
(Separate Website)
Quick tips on your rights in certain consumer issues
By: Barnes Law Group
Financing A Car
(Separate Website)
Buying a car, whether new or used, can be complicated and overwhelming. If you?re going through a dealer, it can be tempting to deal exclusively with the dealership on both the purchase and financing of the car. In fact, many dealers try to entice buyers with dealer financing specials, although these specials often have restrictions or conditions that make them unavailable to many consumers. Just because you buy a car from a particular dealer, doesn?t mean you have to finance it through that dealer as well.
By: Barnes Law Group
Georgia Department of Banking and Finance Website
(Separate Website)
The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance (Department) is the state agency that regulates and examines banks, credit unions and trust companies which are chartered by the State. The Department also has regulatory and/or licensing authority over mortgage brokers and lenders, check cashers, sale of check companies, money transmitters, international banking organizations, and bank holding companies conducting business in Georgia.
By: Georgia Department of Banking and Finance
Personal Financial Education
(Separate Website)
Over the years, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has developed and participated in many projects designed to build bridges between you and your financial goals. By working with consumer-interest groups, faith-based organizations, government agencies, nonprofits, and other companies, the Atlanta Fed helps provide the tools that people need to make informed financial decisions. This Web site provides fundamental information about the Atlanta Fed’s educational outreach efforts.
By: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
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Spanish / Español
Predatory Lending
(Separate Website)
Predatory lending is the practice of lenders targeting vulnerable individuals and convincing them to take loans with incredibly high interest rates and other abusive terms.
Sometimes, the victims of predatory lending may have less than perfect credit, so they can?t get a standard loan. In other cases, they may actually be able to get a standard loan but are misled by the lender or broker into believing they can?t. They are often hardworking people with limited incomes. An extra expense or setback, such as an unexpected medical bill or a car accident, may leave them unable to pay their bills. With their back against the wall, they become perfect targets for predatory lenders. Some of the most common forms of predatory lending include payday loans, car title loans, and predatory mortgage lending.
By: Barnes Law Group
The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
(Separate Website)
The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC) is a nonprofit consumer organization with a two-part mission -- consumer information and consumer advocacy. It was established in 1992 and is based in San Diego, California. It is primarily grant-supported and serves individuals nationwide.
The PRC's goals are to:
Raise consumers' awareness of how technology affects personal privacy.
Empower consumers to take action to control their own personal information by providing practical tips on privacy protection.
Respond to specific privacy-related complaints from consumers, intercede on their behalf, and, when appropriate, refer them to the proper organizations for further assistance.
Document the nature of consumers' complaints and questions about privacy in reports, testimony, and speeches and make them available to policy makers, industry representatives, consumer advocates, and the media.
Advocate for consumers' privacy rights in local, state, and federal public policy proceedings, including legislative testimony, regulatory agency hearings, task forces, and study commissions as well as conferences and workshops.
By: The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
Learn about Personal Finances and Using Credit
(Separate Website)
This presentation was developed as part of the Law and Government Education Project in the Institute of Government at the University of Georgia. In partnership with the Law School and the Center for Teaching and Learning at UGA and the Law School at Mercer University, the Institute develops resources on basic areas of Georgia and federal law. These resources are then distributed across the state in a variety of ways including the State Bar of Georgia?s Pro Bono Project website. We hope you will find this presentation to be useful and informative. Please be advised, however, that this presentation is designed to provide general information only and does not substitute for legal advice. At the conclusion of the presentation you will find a list of organizations which may be able to provide assistance to those who have legal issues relevant to the topic of this presentation. We encourage viewers to contact these organizations for help. Also, please consult the Pro Bono Project website for a list of other presentations available for viewing.
By: Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia
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Spanish / Español
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