Consumer Smarts with Phuong Cat Le

Phuong's Consumer Smarts blog supplements her weekly column offering advice for readers looking for ways to save, cut red tape and avoid pitfalls.

• Beware foreclosure rescue scams
  Foreclosure rescue scams are on the rise nationwide as more people fall behind on their mortgage payments. I wrote about such schemes in this story a year ago.
• Baggage ban on lithium batteries
  Just when you thought they couldn't put another restriction on air travel, you get these new rules about spare batteries.
• Tax refund delays for some taxpayers
  The bad news: about 13.5 million taxpayers won't be able to file their tax returns until Feb. 11 because Congress waited until the last minute to pass an adjustment to the Alternative Minimum Tax.
• Your chance to speak out about gas prices
  I hear from readers every time I write a story about gas prices, so I know it's a hot topic. The Attorney General's office is holding three public forums to let you ask questions and provide relevant information to help the state with its investigation into high gas prices.
• Feb. 19 deadline to apply for FEMA storm help
  If you suffered damages during the early December storm, Feb. 19 is the deadline to apply for financial help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This includes residents in King County, which was recently added to the list of nine counties that qualify for individual assistance.
• Consumer data sold through "trigger lists"
  Ever notice how when you apply for a home loan, you suddenly start getting emails, phone calls and letters with unsolicited competing loan offers? The most disturbing part of it is how much personal and financial data they seem to have on you.
• Taxpayers spared, but expect potential refund delays
  Millions of middle-class taxpayers have been spared the alternative minimum tax, after Congress voted this week to approve a one-year "patch" in a 1969 law. The tax was meant to prevent wealthy investors from using deductions and tax shelters to avoid paying income tax altogether. But because it wasn't indexed to inflation, it has ensnared millions of middle class taxpayers.
• Winter driving tips
  We don't get snow very often in Seattle, but when we do, look out. The city seems to shut down and chaos reigns in the streets. Remember last winter?
• Credit score changes in store
  Changes are underway for the FICO score, one of the most widely used credit scoring tools, according to a Wall Street Journal story (via Consumerist). The FICO score, compiled by Fair Isaac & Co, rates your credit worthiness based on a score between 300 and 850 -- the higher, the better.
• The whole grain bread debate
  The Center for Science in the Public Interest says it plans to sue Sara Lee Corp. for misleading consumers over its popular "Soft & Smooth Made with Whole Grain White Bread." The nutrition advocacy group sent a letter (PDF) telling the company it shouldn't make claims about the bread's "whole grain goodness" when it isn't 100 percent whole grain.
• Check it twice: scanned prices aren't always right
  When you're out shopping this holiday season, here's one thing you should double check: that the actual price scanned at the register is what you're supposed to be paying.
• New lending rules and what it could mean for you
  It may be too late for those borrowers who are already in trouble, but the Federal Reserve Board today proposed tighter mortgage lending rules that many say are long overdue.
• Top consumer blunders of the year
  The editors of Fortune Magazine recently published an entertaining list of the 101 Dumbest Moments in Business. It's a long list that includes departing CEOs, public relations mishaps, toy recalls and just plain bad decisions, like naming an energy drink "Cocaine."
• ID theft trends of 2007: families stealing from each other
  The end of the year means time for reviews and predictions. The Identity Theft Resource Center examined the patterns of identity theft over the past year and looked ahead to the direction the crime appears to be taking.
• Checks in the mail for Washington borrowers
  About 8,750 Washington borrowers who took out mortgages with Ameriquest should expect to see checks in the mail. The average check is $1,130. The smallest is $47, while the largest check is $7,950.