Business Notebook

New consumer agency to investigate checking account overdraft fees

NEW YORK Of all the bank fees that customers love to hate, overdraft charges on checking accounts have to be near the top. The government’s new consumer protection agency appears to agree. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wednesday that it will investigate overdraft fees, including how they are marketed and explained to customers. The agency said the probe could result in additional rules, perhaps even lawsuits. Overdraft fees are charged by banks when customers try to spend more money than they have in an account. Banks will allow the transaction, then charge the customer a penalty of as much as $35. Cordray and representatives from four consumer advocacy groups said that the overdraft fees hurt the people who can least afford them because poorer customers are more likely to drain their checking accounts to close to zero. Since the 2008 financial crisis, the government has clamped down on bank practices that it considers unfair, such as marketing credit cards to teenagers.

2008-09 Honda Odyssey minivans being recalled for rear door danger

DETROIT Honda is recalling nearly 46,000 Odyssey minivans because the rear doors can fall on people unexpectedly, and have on at least two occasions. The problem affects minivans from the 2008 and 2009 model years that have power lift gates. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says on its website that gas can leak out of the struts that support the lift gates. The company will replace both power lift gate struts for free. Owners will receive a letter, or call 1.800.999.1009.

Previously owned home sales see biggest boost in 2 years in January

WASHINGTON Sales of previously occupied homes rose in January to the highest pace in nearly two years, flashing modest signs of health ahead of the spring-buying season. The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that home sales increased 4.3 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million. That’s the highest level since May 2010. Home sales have risen in three of the past four months. But they remain well below the 6 million that economists equate with a healthy market. The report offered a mixed picture of the slowly improving housing market. The number of first-time buyers, who are critical to a housing recovery, increased slightly to make up 33 percent of all sales. That’s still below 40 percent, which tends to signal a healthy market. Sales of homes at risk of foreclosure also increased to 35 percent of all purchases.

T-Mobile wants feds to block Verizon purchase of wireless spectrum from cable companies

NEW YORK T-Mobile USA, which just had its acquisition by AT&T blocked by regulators, is now urging the federal government to block another deal in the wireless world: Verizon’s planned purchase spectrum from cable companies for $3.9 billion. In a filing, T-Mobile USA says the Federal Communications Commission should stop the deal between Verizon, Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc., Bright House Networks and Cox Communications because it would place an “excessive concentration” of wireless spectrum in Verizon’s hands.

The Associated Press contributed.