Consumer Blog

It's important to note that when you're giving money to a charity or non-profit group, you can't necessarily deduct that contribution from your income taxes. The biggest category of tax deductible charities are ones designated 501(c)(3) by the IRS. There are some deductible charities that don't fall into that category, and your tax professional can help you make that determination.

You can use the Better Business Bureau's site, give.org, to look up a charity and determine if it's 501(c)(3). Enter the charity's name in the search box, hit Search, then scroll down to the section that says Tax Status.

You can also look at a charity's finances using our Check a Charity site - this tells you how much of your donation goes to the actual programs versus administrative costs like salaries, fundraising, office costs, etc.

Finally, be sure to check out our best advice on how to give wisely to a charity.

Missouri consumer writes:

Help!! I have paid my wedding photographer in full and she has not delivered my order after 5 long months. She said she has filed bankruptcy and there is nothing I can do to recover my order or money. Is there anything I can do to recover the $1700+ dollars I have already paid to her?

You can file a consumer complaint with our office. This is a widespread problem. We settled a similar case against a photography studio earlier this year. And a check of our consumer complaint database for the word "wedding" shows 700 complaints - and about half of them are on this very topic.

One of our consumer rules to live by is not paying in advance for things you haven't received yet.

In Missouri we've had the ability to freeze our credit for almost a year now, but all three credit bureaus required it be done by certified mail - not phone or Internet. Now that's changing. TransUnion and Experian are now offering this service online. Furthermore, for the time being TransUnion is offering the service for free. Freezing your credit is an excellent way to prevent identity theft.

The price was $10, but Missouri law as of August 28th will cap that fee at $5.

You can read about changes made to Missouri law here.

This blog post has links to the security freeze pages at all three credit bureaus.

PS: TransUnion also deserved credit last fall for being the first to offer the security freeze nationwide, even though some states like Missouri didn't require them to offer it.

We have blogged here and here about how consumers are winning battles against wireless companies and their fees for early termination of contracts. Now a California judge has added what looks like a massive defeat to Sprint, which has a couple of weeks to respond.

Here is a blog post on a cool way to get out of those fees for early cancellation.

You might be surprised at the answer. In most cases, it's going to take you a long time to see any savings.

Here is a calculator that can help you decide if buying a vehicle with better gas mileage would actually save you money. I tried it with my car. I went from a car that gets 22 mpg to one (I just made this up) that gets 32 mpg. It said it would take me more than 6 years to recoup my additional investment!

And mine was a modest investment. I figured I'd buy something used that would only cost me $4,000 after trade in.

As for your personal checks, I still see a lot of consumers with their SSN on their checks. Bad idea. You lose your checkbook, and somebody has not only your bank account and routing number, but also your Social.

I often get the question, "What about when I write a check at the store and the clerk asks for my Social? Is that legal?" Yes, it's legal to ask, but you don't have to give it. You can:

1. see if they'll accept some other information like phone number or driver's license number
2. pay by credit card
3. pay cash
4. leave the store and go somewhere else

But most stores these days respect people's ID theft concerns and won't insist on having your Social Security number.

We've seen complaints lately about suspicious job offers inviting people to be a "HUD Tracer." The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) keeps a list of people who are due refunds related to their HUD-backed mortgages. These lists are public, and there are third-party companies that take those lists and try to track the recipients down - or hire people to track them down.

That's where the bogus job opportunities come from - you might see an ad looking for HUD tracers. If you find a recipient who's due money, you charge them a fee to get their refund. Most of that fee goes to the third-party company, and you keep a percentage. In some cases, as with many work-at-home scams, you are required to pay a fee to sign up - that's a red flag.

But it's very hard to make money at this game. This article explains why.

If you get one of these offers, you can file a consumer complaint with our office.

AG Nixon today is reminding consumers about a publication we have full of consumer tips and fraud warnings for students and young adults. The Student Consumer Guide covers credit, used cars, renting apartments, cell phones, identity theft, scholarship scams and everything in between.

This and all of our publications are available for free using the online order form.

Moneygram is a player in the international wire transfer business, and it has agreed to a huge settlement with our office and other AGs across the country. The purpose is to warn consumers about potential for wire fraud. Here is a preview of what consumer will see as a cover sheet on all wire transfer applications.

We always say that a request to wire money when doing business is a major red flag. Con artists love wire transfers as the method of payment because the money can be collected at any transfer station in the world.

We have seen wire transfer fraud in the "Grandparents scam," foreign lotteries, adoption scams and many others - even the "hay scam" we saw in Missouri last year.

In the typical scenario, the scammer contacts an unsuspecting consumer and somehow convinces him he needs to send money. He then asks it to be done via wire transfer, often using Western Union or Moneygram.

Western Union reached a similar agreement in 2005. Here is their fraud warning - it appears as a cover page on applications.

If you're relocating soon and looking for a moving company, here are some tips:

• As with any business, work with companies known to you or recommended by someone you trust. Don't do business with a stranger, based on a good price quote, Web site or nice-looking ad in the phone book. You can check for complaints against a company using our KnowMO database or with your local Better Business Bureau.
• Get at least two estimates and three if possible.
• Consider a binding estimate. That means you and the moving company agree in writing on a price, and that's what you pay. If it's non-binding, you will likely be hit with a bill that's larger than the estimate.
• Ask what kind of payment the mover requires. Some consumers find that after their belongings have arrived at the new home, the moving company tells them they have to have a cashier's check or else they won't unload the stuff. If it's 6 p.m., you won't find a bank open to give you a cashier's check.

You may have heard horror stories about movers who hold belongings hostage while they ask for more money. Researching their background and getting a binding estimate should help prevent this.

The federal government has a Web site with tips and consumer rights. Also, the industry has a Web site with tips.

You may have heard the legend of the notch babies. There is always a group out there raising money to try to increase Social Security benefits for notch babies, who were born between 1917 and 1921. The fundrasiers say they need money to lobby Congress to correct an error that led to notch babies receiving less money than they should have for the last 30 years.

This article has a full explanation - and some mythbusting - on this topic.

Missouri consumer writes:

If I choose to close the account instead of depositing money to cover a bank overdraft charge (and/or overdraft amounts) what will the bank do? Will this affect your credit report? Can the bank take legal action?

Your first step should always be to contact the bank and try to get the charges removed. 

Now, I'll answer your questions in reverse. Yes, as with any unpaid debt before the statute of limitations, the bank has the right to sue. As for the credit report, the bank is not likely to report you to the credit bureaus.

Instead, the bank will probably report you to TeleCheck or ChexSystems, which keep databases on customers with negative banking history like bouncing checks, overdrawn accounts, etc. Here's more info on that, along with instructions on checking your on banking history file with those companies.

We have blogged extensively about how to check your free credit report three times a year. The credit report we usually talk about tracks your history of paying bills, loan payments, etc.

But there is another kind of report on you that you have a right to access for free - this one tracks any negative banking history, such as bounced checks, unpaid fees, etc. This report is kept in a national database, and banks check it before agreeing to open an account for you.

One big difference between this report and the traditional credit bureau report: all of us have files with the credit bureaus. But with this banking database, only consumers with negative history will have a file. So if you're told there is no record for you, that's good.

There are two companies that keep these negative history files, Telecheck and ChexSystems. ChexSystems will let you submit your request online, by mail or by phone, while TeleCheck requires you do it by phone. Both will mail your report to you.

Missourians now have protection against utility shutoffs in hot weather, just as they do in cold weather. The legislature this year passed a law creating a "hot weather rule," so that utility customers can't have their power shut off on extremely hot days. This is the summer equivalent of the "cold weather rule," which has been the law for 30 years in Missouri. Here's how they breakdown:

Hot weather rule (effective Aug. 28, 2008): From June 1 to September 30, utilities can not shut off service for nonpayment if the temperature is forecast to be above 95 degrees or the heat index above 105.

Cold weather rule: From November 1 to March 31, utilities can not shut off heat for nonpayment if the temperature is forecast to be below freezing.

Consumers often need to get a copy of something in their medical file from their doctor, either for themselves or to have sent to another doctor.

Your doctor owns the contents of your medical file. This includes the dates you've been seen, billing, diagnosis, drug use, etc. It also includes images like x-rays and MRIs.

Under the federal law HIPAA, you have a right to get a copy of anything in your file. Your doctor has the right to charge you a reasonable fee to copy that item.

With images, many are now done digitally, so making a copy is no problem. If your provider only does them in hard copy film, they may have to hire an outside company to make copies, so that may drive up the cost.

Cost of digital copies are not regulated in Missouri, but paper copies are. Here is the fee schedule that limits what providers can charge to make copies of medical records.