Volume 40, Number 3, Fall 2008

Identity Security Forum:
Protecting Personal Information
in Cyberspace

We invite you to attend the Arizona Consumers Council Identity Security Forum. Speakers from business, government, law enforcement and non-profits will discuss critical issues related to personal information and privacy in every facet of our increasingly digital lives, including online commerce, websurfing and emailing. Join us in exploring featured topics such as the security of online medical records as doctors and healthcare providers computerize systems. We'll explore key questions such as, 'Who checks the accuracy and availability of digital records?'

Speakers will include Jean Ann Fox, Director of Financial Services, Consumer Federation of America, Detective James Owens, FBI Bank Fraud Task Force, Phoenix Police Department, Christine Jones, General Counsel, GoDaddy.com, and Shahram Partovi, M.D., Chief Medical Information Officer, Barrows Neurological Institute, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center. The event will be held on September 23, 2008, from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM, at the Mountain Preserve Reception Center in Phoenix. See the insert for details and registration, or azconsumer.org.

Consumers Advised to
Vote NO on Proposition 200

Proposition 200 is designed to confuse voters and is heavily promoted by the Payday Loan industry. It will permit 400% interest on Payday Loans to continue and to become a permanent practice in Arizona. This type of lending is considered to be predatory by consumer advocates. Along with the Arizona Consumers Council and Arizonans for Responsible Lending, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) and the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), all strongly oppose Proposition 200.

The Consumer Loan Act has a usury rate of 36% as well as many other protections for consumers. Since its inception, payday lenders nationwide have been required to disclose that their interest rates are 391 percent on a typical 2-week loan. The industry wants to be able to continue charging the high rates, the result of a special-interest exemption, that are currently slated to sunset in 2010.

Proposition 200 publicity uses misleading mailings, and intends to make Payday Loan rates permanent in Arizona. There would be no way to reduce the rate since it is an initiative vote. By voting NO on Proposition 200, consumers will retain the protections of the Consumer Loan Act.

To make matters more difficult for consumers, a recent court ruled against clarifying the Proposition 200 ballot description. Caitlin Sherman, of Arizonans for Responsible Lending (ARL), says the current 400 percent Payday loan interest level "Will go unexplained as voters mark their ballots on Election Day."

The ARL press release also points out, "The official title on the Proposition 200 ballot, the Payday Loan Reform Act, threatens to mislead the voters of Arizona."

Senator Debbie McCune Davis weighs in with concern for the general public, "The Payday lending ballot measure is no reform at all. It threatens our pocketbooks, the health of our economy, and the integrity of our ballot initiative process."

For more information, see www.200isnoreform.com.

Council Welcomes
New Executive Director

Leslie Kyman Cooper is the new Executive Director of the Arizona Consumers Council. She is an Arizona native, and a graduate of the University of Arizona and the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. She recently practiced with Steptoe & Johnson, LLP, in Phoenix.

Leslie is the 'chief purchasing officer' of goods and services for a family of five, and faces the complexities of being a consumer in our fast-paced technological age. Like many consumers, Leslie is concerned about ever more sophisticated marketing efforts that confront us everywhere we go, trying to separate us from our cash, and to clutter our homes and lives with more and more goods and services.

Privacy issues that arise as a result of modern technology are among her concerns, with the ability to store, retain, sort and spit out more and more data about us, and our daily lives. She seeks straight, unbiased information to help consumers in the marketplace.

Leslie looks forward to building upon the Council’s four decades of educating consumers and advocating on their behalf. Beyond overseeing the Identity Security Forum, her first priority will be to take advantage of technology to increase the reach of the Council, and its membership. Leslie may be contacted at lesliecooper@azconsumer.org.

Credit Scores Misunderstood
By Many Consumers

The Council's Phyllis Rowe and Ken Benner offer tips on how to navigate the sticky and often confusing subject of credit scores. A credit score is a number that helps lenders and others predict how likely you are to make credit payments on time. The score is based on information in your credit report.

Credit scores matter because they affect whether you can get credit, and what you pay for credit cards, auto loans, mortgages and other kinds of credit. For most kinds of credit scores, higher scores mean you are more likely to be approved and pay a lower interest rate on new credit.

Credit scores reflect your credit history. Have you paid your bills on time? Late payments and bankruptcies can affect 35% of the score. How much you owe and the number of accounts and balances as well as how much of your credit you are using affects about 30% of the score. The length of your credit history that shows responsible credit management affects about 15% of the score. Applying for new credit or opening new credit card accounts will weigh against the rest of your credit by about 10%.

Scores for assessing one’s credit history, sometimes called your FICO score, were developed by the Sir Isaac Corp. This is the most common scoring system used. Scores range from 300-850. The higher the FICO score, the better. If you want a 30-year mortgage and your credit score is 720, you likely qualify for a mortgage with a low 5.5% interest rate. But if your score is 580 you probably would pay 8.5% or more. That’s at least 3 full percentage points more in interest. On a $100,000 mortgage loan, that 3-point difference will cost $2,400 a year, adding up to $72,000 dollars more over the loan’s 30 year lifetime. So, credit scores do matter.

Credit reports are free once a year from each of the three major companies. Your score can be ordered from www.myfico.com. There is a charge for additional credit scores of $14.95 for one, and $44.85 for all three. Each company has a different score range. The FICO score from Equifax is 300-850. The FICO from Experian is 350-830. The FICO from Transunion is 150-934.

To improve your credit scores:

http://www.consumersunion.org/creditmatters/
creditmattersfactsheets/001633.html

Good News for Homeowners

Good news for homeowners from the Arizona Supreme Court in August, explains the Council's Leslie Cooper. In last month's decision for "The Lofts at Fillmore Condominium Association Vs. Reliance Commercial Construction," the Arizona Supreme Court held that a home builder impliedly warrants that a new home has been constructed in workmanlike manner and that it is habitable, even where that home builder is not the vendor of the home, and that buyer can sue that builder, even if the buyer and the builder do not have a contract with each other.

This decision provides homeowners with important protections against defective construction. Arizona Consumers Council participated in filing an amicus brief in this matter, in a joint effort with the Consumer Federation of America.

As recently as May, New Times reporter Sarah Fenske blogged about this important lawsuit, citing how dificult it is for consumer ideals to prevail over the wishes of powerful Arizona developers and contractors. Consumers will be watching how this ruling affects quality and accountability in the home industry.

For more information see blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/
valleyfever/2008/05/the_supreme_court_to_the_rescu.php and www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=CV-07-0416
-PR&s=AZ&d=36955.

Soft Drinks and Your Teeth:
Who Knew?

Old-style root beer is not as bad for your teeth as other, more commercial soft drinks. Researchers who studied 20 popular sodas said they all caused dental erosion. But natural root beer made with yeast to give it bubbles, and which doesn’t contain artificial carbonation, isn’t quite as bad for your teeth.

Read labels because most sodas may contain phosphoric or citric acid, two corrosive ingredients commonly found in soft drinks and energy drinks. To reduce cavity risk, drink soda only with meals and a straw.

For more on the dental risks of soft drinks, see sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080312125606.htm,
livescience.com/health/070321_soda_teeth.html, and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_beer.

CFA Food Safety Conference

Consumer Federation of America (CFA), in conjunction with the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), held it's 31st Annual National Food Policy Conference on September 8th and 9th in Washington, DC.

Consumer advocates, policy makers and scientists convened to discuss important and relevant food, nutrition and agriculture policies.

Al Sterman attended, reflecting the Council's long history of studying and advocating for food policies that are supportive of consumers.

This year's focus and central topic was food prices. Food prices directly affect critical quality-of-life issues such as nutrition, energy, hunger, sustainability and international trade. CFA also seeks to protect vulnerable consumers in a time of rising costs.

For details see www.consumerfed.org/pdfs/Food%20
Policy%20Brochure1%202008.pdf (note: may take a long time to download).

Radon Found
in Granite Countertops

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has noted an increase in reports of test results of elevated levels of Radon from granite installations in homes, including kitchen countertops and foyer tiles, according to Lou Witt, Indoor Environments Division.

Meanwhile, the Marble Institute of America says most granite doesn't pose a threat. The EPA says Radon gas levels exceeding 4 picocuries per liter of air is cause for action; an amount similar to smoking a half-pack of cigarettes daily.

In a recent New York Times article, "What's Lurking in Your Countertop?" by Kate Murphy, July 24, 2008, Dr. Lynn Sugarman described a Radon technician's reading of 100 picocuries from the granite counter in her summer home.

To add perspective, one would have to touch a 'hot-reading' granite item or stand near it often to it to absorb its radiation.

Most people absorb 360 millirem of radiation annually from the environment. One can absorb 3 millirems of atmospheric radiation on a long airline flight.

The EPA recommends testing homes for Radon and promotes the US Surgeon General's warning that Radon causes lung cancer. Inexpensive Radon test kits are available at hardware stores and the Council. Visit epa.gov/radon, azconsumer.org or see Contact below.

Donations

The Council thanks it current members for their support and invites others to donate today.

Mail your donation check to the following address or donate online at AZconsumer.org.

Arizona Consumers Council
PO Box 1288
Phoenix, AZ 85001

For Further Information, Contact:
602-265-9625 in Phoenix
520-327-0241 in Tucson
prowe5@cox.net