CashCall, an Orange County personal loan lender, and its owner, J. Paul Reddam, were ordered to pay $10.3 million for violating consumer protection laws. However, the fine is only a fraction of the $287 million in penalties and restitution sought by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB sued CashCall in 2013 and […]

The housing industry is eagerly courting a group of consumers, aged 20 to 36, that real estate professionals call Hispennials, which is a mash-up of Hispanics and Millennials. Rick Arvielo, CEO of Tustin-based New American Funding, states, If you look at the Latino population, their demographic is younger and they are just starting to buy […]

The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that “California Municipalities’ Debt Disclosures Contrast With Climate Warnings.” As you probably know, at least seven local governments in California are suing the oil and gas industry in an effort to hold them financially responsible for rising sea levels; however, when they sold debt to investors in the form of bonds, […]

A former executive at a California tax agency alleges that he was punished for cooperating with criminal and financial investigations into the Board of Equalization and has decided to appeal his recent termination. Mark DeSio, who was the agency’s former communications director, claims in his complaint that he was threatened by elected Board of Equalization […]

Last month, state regulators seized troubled Santa Rosa-based State Assistance Fund for Enterprise, Business and Industrial Development Corporation (SAFE-BIDCO) and announced plans to liquidate the state-chartered nonprofit. The 36-year-old organization, which is devoted to helping small businesses obtain loans, had been under scrutiny after a scathing state audit in April found that it risked going […]

By Damon Dunn The U.S. economy has undergone major shifts from the time of our founding, transitioning from agriculture to manufacturing to services now comprising the majority of our economic output. Free market advocates have rightly pointed out that our economic growth has occurred as a result of free enterprise; by millions of individuals communicating […]

According to 2016 vehicle registration data collected by auto industry watcher IHS Markit, where you live in California can influence what car you buy. For example, a Bakersfield resident in the market for a new car last year more than likely purchased a light-duty pickup truck, where as someone living in the San Francisco Bay […]

Wells Fargo & Co. charged hundreds of thousands of auto-loan borrowers for insurance they did not ask for or need and some customers’ cars were repossessed because of this. In a news release, Wells Fargo stated that an internal bank investigation spurred by customer complaints found that, between 2012 and 2017, about 570,000 borrowers may […]

Scientists predict that coastal communities in the United States could eventually experience flooding from higher tides as glaciers continue to melt. It is estimated that the sea level will increase about one to four feet by the end of the century. According to scientists, sea level rise is underway in some seaside neighborhoods and there […]

According to rankings released last month by Palo Alto economist Stephen Levy, California’s economy ranked sixth in the world in 2016. Levy is head of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy and he believes that the state will overtake the United Kingdom this year for number five. In 2005, California’s economy overtook […]