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Filmmaker Tyler Perry and musician Kid Rock paid off hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Walmart layaway bills to help strangers have a happier holiday season. "I was trying to do this anonymously but due to some circumstances, y'all know nothing stays secret these days," Perry said in a Twitter video, giving the addresses of two Georgia Walmart stores where he paid off the bills. (snip) "@tylerperry Great idea! I followed your lead and paid off the layaway at my local Walmart in Nashville. Merry Christmas and God Bless You!" Kid Rock tweeted. "Today, our store got a call...

Springfield Secret Santas Pay Off Layaway Bills for Needy FamiliesDecember 17, 2011 | Mary Moloney, KSPR News Reporter SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Good Samaritans have found a way to help needy Springfield families this holiday season. About a dozen people walked into the South Campbell Kmart and paid for the presents of strangers whose gifts sat on layaway. "One young man came in who had gotten a $500 bonus from work. He just thought it was a great thing. He's even posted it online challenging his friends to do the same thing and he's come in and paid off several people's...

The return of layaway plans this holiday shopping season is raising concern that the break from credit cards might actually cost consumers far more. For example, a rock 'n' roll Elmo doll that requires a $5 layaway fee and a 10 percent down payment for a month can equal a credit card that charged more than 100 percent interest, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Sunday. Schumer is asking major retail associations to direct their members to more clearly present their layaway fees to customers. The Democrat says the ultimate cost of a layaway with a $5 fee can equal 40...

Five years after Walmart stopped offering customers the option to put most purchases on layaway, the nation's largest retailer has decided to bring it back for brief run during the 2011 holiday shopping season. Of course, this being Walmart, the holiday shopping season begins in October. Sales at Walmart stores open for at least one year have fallen for nine consecutive quarters, so Big W is hoping that it will see some of the benefits its competitors have seen by offering the layaway option.The layaway plan will become available starting October 17 and will be offered for toys and electronics...

(English-language translation) Some minimum parameters that protect consumers who purchase goods through the layaway system are the object of a bill in the [Puerto Rico] Senate. Bill 1775 by Senator Lornna Soto points out among its motives that, during the last decade, easy access to credit turned layaway into a thing of the past, but the current economic recession and the new restrictions placed by financial institutions on credit cards have increased interest in those programs among consumers. "The practice of layaway established in Puerto Rico by merchants and supported by a high number of consumers needs to be regulated...

I am hoping for some help here. As most of us know, Wal-Mart is "the" local store for purchasing items. Things like school clothes, furniture and electronics can become very expensive, and take time to pay off. Most stores have a lay away policy. I am a single parent and have purchased many items in this manner. However, I found out today that Wal-mart is ending lay-away after Christmas. This bugs me, I was hoping for some support from FReepers who have been there, Done that, and know Lay away can help many families. I am asking you to either...

HOUSTON - Former Enron Corp. chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were convicted Thursday of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud in a case born from one of the biggest business scandals in U.S. history. The verdict put the blame for the demise of what was once the nation's seventh-largest company squarely on its top two executives. It came in the sixth day of deliberations following a trial that lasted nearly four months. Lay was also convicted of bank fraud and making false statements to banks in a separate trial related to his personal banking. The former corporate titans...