| Volume 38 Number 2 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
You cannot prevent identity theft, but you can stop it from happening a second time. In Texas, victims of identity theft can place a security freeze on their account, preventing anyone from misusing their credit. Click here for more.
GM to Sell Hummer Brand
Just one day after General Motors declared bankruptcy, the company reached a preliminary deal to sell its Hummer brand to a mystery buyer. The sale of Hummer is expected to save more than 3,000 U.S. jobs. GM continues to seek buyers for its Saab and Saturn brands. What should consumers expect of new ownership? Click here for more.
Don't Rely on Car History Reports
Most consumers rely on a "clean" vehicle history report when they purchase a used vehicle. In fact, most car dealers voluntarily provide consumers with a Carfax, AutoCheck, or NICB report. However, recent discoveries suggest the vehicle history reports often contain incorrect information. Can a car involved in a major accident maintain a "clean" vehicle history report? Yes! To find out how, Click here for more.
Texas Property Tax Deceptions
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has filed suit against Houston-based O’Connor & Associates. In addition to the suit, the Attorney General requested and received a temporary restraining order to prevent the company from engaging in illegal activities. According to the complaint, O'Connor & Associates filed tax protests without taxpayers' consent, failed to appear at clients' tax protest hearings, and submitted fraudulently notarized documents. Have you done business with O'Connor & Associates? Click here for more.
Your Money
What is the value of higher education? Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
California Supreme Court allows bank to set-off against otherwise exempt funds. The California Supreme Court rejected the argument that Bank of America's practice for collecting insufficient fund fees, or NSFs, violated the court's own ruling in Kruger v. Wells Fargo Bank, 11 Cal.3d 352, which held financial institutions can't take public benefit money -- so-called "exempt funds" such as Social Security payments -- out of bank accounts to cover credit card debt. The court stated, "Here, unlike in Kruger, the bank is not setting off independent, past debt." "Instead, the transaction occurs within a single account and is triggered by a customer's overdraft, causing the bank to recoup those funds from a subsequent deposit, and charge an NSF fee." "We do not agree with plaintiffs… that there is no meaningful difference between satisfying a debt external to an account and recouping an overdraft of an account from funds later deposited into that same account." Click here for more.