List files need to end with a newline for them to load correctly (a space at the end of the last line will work as well). I'm not certain about the other loading problem, though.
I always end files I want to load into a list object with an empty line. That always works.
Dunno about the INI thing though. If you're really desperate, you could load the INI into a list file and program your own INI parser. But I guess there are better/easier ways of storing data then anyway.