| Volume 49 Number 12 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act protects you whenever someone misleads or deceives you. This is our consumer protection law, but beware it applies to all sellers, including you when you sell at a garage sale, through a classified ad, or on the web. Don't say anything misleading or deceptive about what you are selling. It could cost you a substantial amount in damages. Click here for more.
Collectors Still Threaten to Force Arbitration
After secret financial ties between the National Arbitration Forum and a leading debt collector was exposed, some corporations stopped forcing consumers into mandatory binding arbitration. Now, the National Consumer Law Center is warning consumers they still remain vulnerable to abuses in arbitration as more creditors and collectors push for mandatory arbitration. Creditors and collectors win 9 out of 10 cases taken to arbitration. Accordingly, it is no surprise that it has been characterized as the "fraudulently biased arbitration process." Why are collectors still threatening to deny rights to millions of credit card holders? Click here for more.
How to Fight a Debt Collector
Have you been harassed by a debt collector? Has a debt collector called you at work? Has a debt collector threatened to garnish your wages? Debt collectors are trained to make you feel like your only option is to give up and give in. It isn't! Learn how to fight back with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act! Click here for more.
Your Money
Should you pay off debt or invest in savings? Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Supreme Court reviews FDCPA’s bona fide error defense. In a case involving an attorney who told a consumer that unless the debt was disputed in writing it would be assumed valid. The lower court found this to be a violation of the FDCPA, but also found that it was a bona fide error on the part of the attorney. The Supreme Court found that the bona fide error defense in §1692k(c) does not apply to a violation resulting from a debt collector’s mistaken interpretation of the legal requirements of the FDCPA. The Court noted, “We have long recognized the ‘common maxim, familiar to all minds, that ignorance of the law will not excuse any person, either civilly or criminally.’” Click here for more.