| Volume 55 Number 6 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
You can sue in Texas Small Claims Court for up to $10,000 and you do not need an attorney to assist you. Next time you get ripped-off, consider the real people's court. Small Claims Court is quick, informal and easy to use. In many case, once the other person knows you know your legal rights and will assert them, they quickly try to settle the dispute. Click here for more.
20 Highest Paying Jobs in America
Are you considering a new profession? Going back to school? Which professions make the most money? In a report issued by Money magazine, doctors (including anesthesiologists, surgeons, obstetricians, psychiatrists, primary care physicians, emergency room doctors, and more) dominate the list. Why do doctors dominate the list? Where do non-medical jobs rank on the list? Click here for more.
White House Rejects Broad Foreclosure Moratorium
On Tuesday, the Obama Administration refused to act on a call for a broad moratorium on foreclosures. White House speaker Robert Gibbs suggested the unintended consequences of a moratorium could include serious harm to the housing market. Despite the inaction, most regulation is done state-by-state, leaving the door open for individual state officials to call for their own moratorium. After mortgage processors filed thousands of faulty affidavits in foreclosure cases nationwide, many states are already taking action of their own. Click here for more.
IRS Discontinues Tax Package Mailings
You're probably accustomed to receiving a packet in the mail every year from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The packet is used to explain tax brackets, exemptions, deductions, and taxes generally. Starting in the 2011 tax season, the IRS will not longer send out the lengthy instruction manual. With the growth of electronic filing and the cost of packet production, the IRS decided to eliminate the customary practice. For your options after the elimination of the tax package mailing, Click here for more.
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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.