| Volume 53 Number 9 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Always use a credit card when shopping online or by mail. Federal law allows you to refuse to pay the credit card bill if the goods are never delivered. Click here for more.
New Credit Card Rules Begin
New credit card rules under the Wall Street reform bill took effect Sunday, designed to protect consumers from "unreasonable late payment and other penalty fees." The new rules prevent credit card companies from charging more than $25 for late payments. Furthermore, credit card companies can no longer charge consumers for not using their credit cards. With the implementation of the latest rules, the credit industry overhaul is complete. How do the new rules help you? Click here for more.
10 Major Retailers Closing Stores
After a disappointing start to the year, ten major retailers announced they will be closing down stores. Saks, French Connection, A&P, American Eagle, Winn-Dixie, Bebe, Men's Warehouse, Abercrombie & Fitch, Charming Shoppes, and Blockbuster will all be closing stores nationwide. With video-on-demand and mailbox rentals on the rise, Blockbuster will be closing over 500 stores. Will your favorite store be closing its doors?
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Egg Supplier Has History of Violations
More than half a billion eggs have been recalled. The man at the center for the controversy is Austin DeCoster. Austin "Jack" DeCoster, who owns Wright County Egg, has been cited for numerous health and safety violations over the years. His farm originally recalled 380 million eggs August 13 after 1,000 reported cases of salmonella poisoning. A week later, another DeCoster business issued a recall for an additional 170 million eggs. Dating back to 1997, DeCoster has been cited for several serious health and safety violations. To read about DeCoster and the facts behind the recall, Click here for more.
Enterprise Renting Vehicles Under Recall
Do you rent with Enterprise when you travel? According to numerous consumer complaints, Enterprise Rent-A-Car has failed to fix all recalled vehicles, but still rents them out. Now, Consumers for Auto Reliability and the Safety and Center for Auto Safety are urging the Federal Trade Commission to step in. In one case, two consumers were killed in a recalled PT Cruiser after the vehicle caught fire and crashed, killing two women on board. The family was awarded $15 million after Enterprise admitted liability. Click here for more.
Your Money
How much does that auto lease really cost? Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
FACTA's credit card information requirements do not apply to e-mailed receipts. The Seventh Circuit held that an emailed payment confirmations for online purchases are not "electronically printed" for purposes of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act. FACTA, enacted in 2003, prohibits the printing of more than "the last 5 digits of the credit card number or the expiration date upon any [electronically printed] receipt provided to the cardholder at the point of the sale or transaction." The court noted that what FACTA covers are printed receipts." The word "print" brings to mind a tangible document, the court concluded, remarking that the extension of the statute to on-screen "printing" was a logical, but an unwarranted leap. "[T]hese usages of the term, while more frequent in recent years, do not yet represent the ordinary or natural meaning of 'print.'" Click here for more.