Let us introduce you to a dozen unsung people who did right by you last year. Let us also remind you of a few who did not.

Who was looking out for your wallet last year? Who was gunning for it? Buried in the fine print of our financial lives---and lurking behind the curtain of any financial story—are people and organizations that make a significant difference to your family’s well-being. It so happened that last year we came across a heartening number of people and outfits that were making your life better: number crunchers and whistle-blowers taking on corporate misbehavior; business, government and nonprofit innovators doing their jobs really, really well under tough circumstances; and moneymaking outfits that in looking out for their own bottom line did yours a favor as well. There are also, as always, a few who dropped the ball—hard. Our thought in nominating our first-ever Class Acts and Crass Acts was to commend those who improved things for our readers over the past year. As for those who did the opposite—well, we figured you’d want to take a good look at them too.

Car Buying
She Put the Squeeze on Lemons

Rosemary Shahan, President, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety

The one place you can count on finding Rosemary Shahan is on the driver’s side. Shahan has spent 25 years pushing for auto safety and car-buying fairness in the courts and the legislature, with California’s Lemon Law and mandatory air bags among her most notable victories. More recently, she helped pass a California law that, by requiring dealers to keep detailed loan records for seven years, should deliver a blow to deceptive lending practices. She hopes it—like the Lemon Law—will go national within the next several years.

Also in 2004, Shahan successfully helped create a state program that aims to prevent the growing spate of loan and auto scams targeting military families. Next up: Another fight for the vetoed Car Buyer’s Bill of Rights, which would outlaw hidden loan costs, among other dubious practices.

--Money Magazine, January, 2005

 

Find this article online at: www.money.com