St. Louis-based Celtic Painting has agreed to pay $3,000 to settle a state lawsuit accusing the house-painting company of violating waste-management regulations, according to the office of Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster.

Celtic Painting could be required to pay more than…

If you’ve read my column in the Saturday paper, you might be familiar with Edgar Dworsky. The former consumer-protection lawyer for the Massachusetts AG’s office is the founder of the non-commercial site Consumer World, and he’s an expert bargain hunter.

Today,…

According to Koster's office, the dealerships issued temporary tags to cars that shouldn't have been on the road — but not to this particular jalopy.

UPDATED 11:50 a.m., Nov. 20 with clarification from Attorney General’s Office. See second and third grafs.

Several…

If you missed it, make sure to check out the MarketWatch story on gift cards and proposed Federal Reserve regs that appeared on the front page of today’s Post-Dispatch.

The Fed is considering new rules that would restrict dormancy or inactivity fees —…

Nutrition activists fear the food industry is co-opting so-called “mommy bloggers” with junkets and freebies and, as a result, pulling a fast one on consumers who read the blogs and are unaware of the perks and endorsement deals, the Los…

The trade group representing brokers of extended auto-service contracts today released a 20-page Standards of Conduct guide that prohibits many of the deceptive marketing practices that, according to consumer groups and regulators, have become synonymous with the industry.

The group, called the…

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster’s office announced today that it has filed suits against six companies selling extended auto-service contracts and alleged that the firms, all located in suburban St. Louis, tricked consumers into buying so-called “extended warranties” through unfair…

Reporters being summoned to press conferences in Kansas City and St. Louis tomorrow are told that Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster will announce new enforcement actions his office is taking against companies selling extended auto-service contracts.

Nanci Gonder, a spokeswoman for…

With bogus blogs and shill comments seemingly on the rise, it’s not surprising that there’s finally a name for these deceptive corners of the Internet where product marketers and public relations flacks pose as real people: it’s the fakeosphere.

Estimated to…

The tax man might be looking for you. And, this time, that’s good news.

Internal Revenue Service said today it is trying to track down the rightful owners of more than 107,000 refund checks worth more than $123.5 million. The U.S. Postal…