By Melissa Sanchez, ProPublica, and Elliott Ramos, WBEZ Chicago has issued 20,000 duplicate city sticker tickets since 2007. City officials are now looking at whether this violates a city ordinance and say motorists might be in for a refund. In less...
By Michael Harriot, The Root While you’re probably familiar with the phenomenon of “driving while black,” a new investigation on Chicago police officers’ tendency to issue multiple tickets for the same parking violations has ushered in a new, absurd phrase into the...
By Bob Susnjara, Daily Herald About 1.2 million Illinois residents will have money automatically deducted from their paychecks for a retirement savings plan through a new state program being phased in 3½ years after becoming law — a move the state...
By Roxanne Liu, American Banker Consumer advocates are urging local governments and courts to improve their debt-collection systems to take into the account the ability of low-income households to pay fines or court costs related to traffic violations or other...
By Steve Daniels, Crain’s Chicago Business Nearly a year ago, advocates applauded PrivateBancorp and its Canadian acquirer, CIBC, for striking a deal with them to better serve low-income parts of the Chicago area, including a commitment to open two branches...
By Fran Spielman, Chicago Sun-Times Mayor Rahm Emanuel was urged Thursday to go easier on parking and vehicle ticket scofflaws after a new report showed the city’s get-tough enforcement policies were having a disproportionate impact on low-income and...
By Kurt Nagl, Crain’s Detroit Business One-third of Motor City Match grant winners have not secured financing First-of-its-kind event planned as quarterly program 50-60 potential small business owners, 15 financial institutions attended Detroit Economic Growth Corp. The Detroit Economic Growth Corp....
By Robert Reed, Chicago Tribune If you’re poor and have to write or cash checks, life got tougher this week, thanks to Bank of America and the state of Illinois. The two entities are out to boost the fees...
By Samantha Bomkamp, Chicago Tribune Bank of America has eliminated its only free checking account that doesn’t require a minimum balance, causing an uproar from customers on social media and spurring a petition to reverse the decision. The Charlotte, N.C.-based...
By Robert Reed, Chicago Tribune If you have a credit card, mortgage, payday loan or do any type of consumer financing, expect to be hurt by President Donald Trump’s plan to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — a controversial but...