| Volume 27 Number 12 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Most credit card agreements give the credit card company the right to change terms, including the interest rate, at any time. Be cautious of any low introductory rate of interest, and read all the small print in your agreement. Read everything very carefully before you apply.
6 Smart Moves When Your Bank Goes Bust
Most customers of IndyMac -- and pretty much any other bank or savings and loan that regulators seize and declare insolvent -- have little to worry about. Remember those promos on bank commercials and Web pages about being "FDIC insured"? That means accounts up to $100,000 will be repaid by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., no questions asked. That rises to $250,000 for certificates of deposit or money market accounts held as part of an IRA. So, why were customers lined up to reclaim their money when IndyMac branches in California reopened under FDIC management Monday morning? Click here for more.
Top 5 Cheap Ways to Make a Car More Fuel-Efficient
With the cost of gas surpassing $4 a gallon, the prospect of embarking on an affordable family road trip has gotten a lot more daunting. To help you avoid spending the majority of your vacation fund on fuel this summer, make sure your car is operating at peak fuel efficiency. Click here for more.
Danger Lurks When Shopping for Student Loans
When college financial aid officers got into trouble last year for accepting gifts from lenders, the moral of the story was clear: You could easily overpay for your student loan by simply borrowing from a college's recommended lender without first shopping around. There is just one problem with comparison shopping for a private student loan. Doing so may damage your credit score. Click here for more.
Breaking News: Don't Click On These `Breaking News' E-Mails
This week has seen a resurgence of scams by phone, e-mail and snail mail, many of them new versions of old ways to steal your money and/or identity. However, one that I haven't seen before is probably the scariest, worst one of all. So far it's an Internet-only scam designed to take control of your computer and do bad things with it, such as sending spam and phishing e-mails to millions of addresses around the world. Dubbed the "tabloid" spam, this e-mail arrives in the form of a news headline. Click here for more.
Your Money
How much should you put down? Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Law Partner's Bias Claims Must Be Resolved Through Arbitration. The 6th Circuit has held that a female law partner must arbitrate her pregnancy-related claims against the firm because she could not maintain them without reference to the firm's partnership agreement, which included a "very broad arbitration clause." Click here for more.