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Protecting Consumers

PROTECTING CONSUMER SAFETY—Toys should not be toxic or dangerous for children to play with. Our food should not make us sick. The terms for banking and credit accounts should be clear and easy to understand.

LOOKING OUT FOR CONSUMERS

Maryland PIRG’s consumer program works to alert the public to hidden dangers and scams and to ban anti-consumer practices and unsafe products.

TROUBLE IN TOYLAND

For 26 years, Maryland PIRG’s "Trouble In Toyland" report has surveyed store shelves and identified choking hazards, noise hazards and other dangers. One year, our research led to the recall of a cloth children’s book that we found contained lead.

BIGGER BANKS, BIGGER FEES

In April, Maryland PIRG released a report in which we surveyed more than 350 bank branches and revealed that fewer than half of branches obeyed their legal duty to fully disclose fees to prospective customers, while one in four provided no fee information at all. We also found that despite widespread stories about the “death” of free checking, free and low-cost checking choices are still widely available, if consumers shop around.

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Issue updates

Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Don’t Freeze our Public Health and Consumer Safety Protections | Jenny Levin

Last year, in the 175 days that the U.S. House of Representatives was in session it passed more than 190 anti-regulatory bills, putting profits over public safety. And they are still at it.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Testimony on Healthy Kids, Healthy Maryland Act | Jenny Levin

Maryland PIRG supports HB 727, requiring the Department of the Environment, in consultation with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, to publish on its Web site lists of specified chemicals of concern and specified chemicals of high concern designated in accordance with specified criteria.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Testimony on Green Cleaning Supplies | Jenny Levin

The Maryland Public Interest Group supports the passage of HB 1019, requiring a county board of education to adopt specified written policies relating to the procurement of green product cleaning supplies subject to specified exceptions; and requiring specified county boards to provide specified notice to the State Department of Education under specified circumstances.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Testimony on Rental-Purchase Agreements Best Practices Act | Jenny Levin

The Maryland Public Interest Group supports the passage of HB 213, altering the requirements for reinstating a rental-purchase agreement; altering the time allowed for a consumer to reinstate a rental- purchase agreement; requiring a consumer to pay specified interest and penalties under specified circumstances; requiring a reduction in payments under specified circumstances; requiring a lessor to maintain specified records for a specified amount of time; etc.

> Keep Reading
News Release | Maryland PIRG | Consumer Protection

State Lawmakers Address Hidden Hazards In the Nursery

Popular baby products, including nursing pillows and car seats, contain toxic flame retardants linked to cancer, hormone disruption, and other health effects, according to a new report released by Maryland PIRG. The report is from Washington Toxics Coalition and Safer States. Children and families are exposed to the compounds, called Tris chemicals, when they escape from household items and contaminate house dust and indoor air. 

> Keep Reading

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News Release | Maryland PIRG | Consumer Protection

State Lawmakers Address Hidden Hazards In the Nursery

Popular baby products, including nursing pillows and car seats, contain toxic flame retardants linked to cancer, hormone disruption, and other health effects, according to a new report released by Maryland PIRG. The report is from Washington Toxics Coalition and Safer States. Children and families are exposed to the compounds, called Tris chemicals, when they escape from household items and contaminate house dust and indoor air. 

> Keep Reading
News Release | Consumer Protection

Survey Finds Toxic or Dangerous Toys on Store Shelves

Dangerous or toxic toys can still be found on America’s store shelves, according to a Maryland Public Interest Research Group’s 26th annual Trouble in Toyland report.

> Keep Reading
News Release | Consumer Protection, Financial Reform

New Consumer Agency Takes Over Thursday as Nation’s Consumer Bank Cop

Leading consumer groups today announced the results of a poll showing that an overwhelming majority of likely voters both support a new consumer agency (74%) and want Wall Street held “accountable” (77%), along with a report documenting “10 reasons” consumers need the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

> Keep Reading
News Release | Consumer Protection

Federal Chemical Legislation Introduced Today

Signaling their clear intention to protect families from toxic chemicals linked to serious health problems, Senator Frank Lautenberg, Barbara Boxer, Amy Klobuchar, Charles Schumer and others today introduced the “Safe Chemicals Act” to upgrade America’s outdated system for managing chemical safety.

> Keep Reading
News Release | Consumer Protection, Financial Reform

New Survey Shows Banks Still Hiding Fees from Consumers

A survey of more than 350 bank branches released today by the Maryland Public Interest Research Group revealed that fewer than half of branches obeyed their legal duty to fully disclose fees to prospective customers, while one in four provided no fee information at all.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Result | Consumer Protection, Financial Reform

Reining in Wall Street

On July 15, the U.S. Senate passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act by a count of 60 to 39.

> Keep Reading
Result | Consumer Protection

KIDS’ SCHOOL LUNCHES NOW SAFER

For years, America’s schoolchildren have been eating beef, chicken and other foods that would have been rejected as substandard even by fast food chains. Thanks in part to our advocacy, the U.S.D.A. has stopped buying such low-quality meat for school lunches.

> Keep Reading
Result | Consumer Protection

BPA Ban

In 2010, Maryland became the 4th state in the nation to phase out the toxic chemcial CPA from baby bottles and sippy cups.

> Keep Reading
Result | Consumer Protection

Ending Credit card abuses

Many abusive credit card practices, such as repeated over-the-limit fees and universal default are outlawed thanks to a 2010 federal law backed by Maryland PIRG.

> Keep Reading
Result | Consumer Protection

Eliminating Toxic Mercury

In 2009, we played a role in addressing the largest manufacturing source of mercury in the state.

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Pages

Report | Maryland PIRG, WTC, Safer States | Consumer Protection

Hidden Hazards in the Nursery

Parents expect the products they buy for their babies to be safe. But new testing of 20 baby and children’s products, including bassinet pads, nursing pillows, changing pads, and car seats, has found toxic flame retardants in 85% of the items.

> Keep Reading
Report | Consumer Protection

Trouble in Toyland: The 26th Annual Survey of Toy Safety

The 2011 Trouble in Toyland report is our 26th annual survey of toy safety. In this report, we provide safety guidelines for consumers when purchasing toys for young children and provide examples of toys currently on store shelves that may pose potential safety hazards.

> Keep Reading
Report | Consumer Protection, Financial Reform

10 Reasons We Need the CFPB Now

For years leading up to the 2008 financial collapse, federal bank regulators ignored numerous warnings of increasingly predatory mortgage practices, credit card tricks and unfair overdraft policies used by banks. This report outlines predatory financial practices that hurt consumers and helped collapse the economy, costing us eight million jobs, millions of foreclosed homes and trillions of dollars in lost home and retirement values. It explains these and other emerging problems as “10 Reasons We Need The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Now.”

> Keep Reading
Report | Consumer Protection, Financial Reform

Big Banks Bigger Fees

Since Congress largely deregulated consumer deposit (checking and savings) accounts beginning in the early 1980s, the PIRGs have tracked bank deposit account fee changes and documented the banks’ long-term strategy to raise fees, invent new fees and make it harder to avoid fees.

> Keep Reading
Report | Consumer Protection

Growing Up Toxic

A growing body of scientific evidence shows that the widespread use of chemicals in our society harms our health and the health of our children. The incidence of many serious health problems – including premature birth, learning disabilities, behavioral disorders, asthma and allergies, early puberty, obesity, diabetes, reduced fertility, and some types of cancer – shows links with exposure to chemicals that can interfere with the process of growth and development.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Don’t Freeze our Public Health and Consumer Safety Protections | Jenny Levin

Last year, in the 175 days that the U.S. House of Representatives was in session it passed more than 190 anti-regulatory bills, putting profits over public safety. And they are still at it.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Testimony on Healthy Kids, Healthy Maryland Act | Jenny Levin

Maryland PIRG supports HB 727, requiring the Department of the Environment, in consultation with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, to publish on its Web site lists of specified chemicals of concern and specified chemicals of high concern designated in accordance with specified criteria.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Testimony on Green Cleaning Supplies | Jenny Levin

The Maryland Public Interest Group supports the passage of HB 1019, requiring a county board of education to adopt specified written policies relating to the procurement of green product cleaning supplies subject to specified exceptions; and requiring specified county boards to provide specified notice to the State Department of Education under specified circumstances.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Testimony on Rental-Purchase Agreements Best Practices Act | Jenny Levin

The Maryland Public Interest Group supports the passage of HB 213, altering the requirements for reinstating a rental-purchase agreement; altering the time allowed for a consumer to reinstate a rental- purchase agreement; requiring a consumer to pay specified interest and penalties under specified circumstances; requiring a reduction in payments under specified circumstances; requiring a lessor to maintain specified records for a specified amount of time; etc.

> Keep Reading
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