| Volume 67 Number 9 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Immediately review your bank statements and returned checks for forgeries. Promptly report any problems to your bank. A short delay may cost you your legal rights. Click here for more.
Why You Should Use Credit Over Debit
Just because it says Visa or MasterCard on your debit card doesn't mean it offers the same protections as a credit card. In fact, credit cards offer many more benefits and protections over their debit card counterparts. With many banks adding a price tag to use a debit card, you might be looking for alternatives. Although many banks have eliminated debit card rewards programs, you can still find great cash back and rewards programs with credit cards. If you pay off your card on time, you can save some money, take advantage of better rewards programs, and enjoy additional legal protections. Should you make the switch? Click here for more.
Cost of Gas on the Rise Again
Gas prices have risen five cents over the past two weeks. The price increase follows a rise in the cost of crude oil and a significant increase in the cost of ethanol. Although unemployment has driven down demand for gasoline, holiday travel will likely bump up demand and prices. Click here for more.
Study: No Link Between Cancer & Phones
If you use your cellphone too much, you're putting yourself at risk for cancer, right? Not so fast. Following a report by the World Health Organization that cellphones are "possibly carcinogenic," the British medical journal published a study that found no increase cancer risk with long-term cellphone usage. The study focused on 360,000 cellphone users in Denmark between 1982 and 1995. Although the results are encouraging, there are several notable holes in the study. Judge for yourself! To read about the study and its deficiencies, Click here for more.
Your Money
Calculate your home's rate of return! Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
State law determines the statute of limitations for a violation of the Telephone Consumer protection Law. The Second Circuit held that for a class action alleging that a business sent unsolicited fax advertisements in violation of federal consumer protection law the appropriate limitations period was determined by state law. The defendant argued that the complaint was time-barred under the two-year statute of limitations provided in the Connecticut law, which specifically recognizes a cause of action for unsolicited faxes. The plaintiff countered that his lawsuit was timely because the federal “catch-all” four-year limitations period applied and his claims were tolled during the pendency of earlier proceedings in state and federal court. But the court concluded that the state limitations period governed and barred the plaintiff’s lawsuit. “[W]hile a TCPA diversity action is somewhat unusual in that the cause of action is created by federal rather than state law, that federal law authorizes TCPA claims only as ‘otherwise permitted’ by state law. This indicates that ‘Congress intended to give states a fair measure of control over solving the problems that the TCPA addresses.’…” Therefore, state law determines the time period within which such actions may be brought. Click here for more.