| Attorney General Lisa Madigan with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Congressman Danny Davis during the Ceremonial bill signing of Senate Bill 957 by Governor Pat Quinn at Instituto del Progreso Latino in Chicago, Sunday, January 27, 2013. (Heather Charles / Chicago Tribune / January 27, 2013) |
12:04 p.m. CST, March 5, 2013
For the fifth year, consumer debt complaints topped the list of concerns reported to Illinois the Attorney General Lisa Madigan?s office, according to a 2012 Top 10 list released today.The complaints ?ranged form problems with mortgages, debt collection agencies to credit card companies,? Madigan said Tuesday. ?Even the most commonplace consumer transactions have become more complex and fraught with risk and nowhere has that been more obvious than in mortgage market where toxic loans have destroyed our economy.?
New on the list this year was a complaint category against schools including for-profit colleges that have come under increased national and state scrutiny in the last few years for questionable recruitment techniques, falsifying job placement rates and downplaying the ultimate cost of attending.
Madigan?s office said that it received more than 1,300 such complaints last year, many stemming from her 2012 lawsuit against Westwood College. The suit alleged that students were left with up to $70,000 in debt for in debt for degrees that failed to qualify them for careers in criminal justice. It further said that students were not given enough information about their loans.
?At a community college they could have gotten an accredited degree for about one tenth the price,? Madigan said.
Other complaints that ranked in Attorney General?s Top 10 dealt with identity theft; telecommunications fraud; construction and home improvement; motor vehicles and used auto sales; sweepstakes and work at home scams; consulting and directory fraud against businesses; mail order issues and non warranty repairs on motor vehicles.
Steve Bernas of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois also presented data showing that the No. 1 complaint seen by his office in the region involved work at home schemes. He said complaints about these offers to earn high pay while working from home represented 30 percent of the complaints he received.
Others that made the local BBB?s list of scams in 2012 included advance fee brokers promising immediate loans with little or no background check; credit repair services with advance fees; messages congratulating consumers for winning foreign lotteries or other prizes that require payment in advance; office supply telemarketers; debt relief services; pyramid companies; paving and home improvement by traveling workers.
meng@tribune.com
Twitter: @monicaeng
kim zolciak kim zolciak travis pastrana quinton coples a.j. jenkins riley reiff david decastro
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