| Volume 72 Number 3 |
Subscribe to the Newsletter
Forward this news alert to your family and friends
Helpful Links
Texas Consumer Complaint Center
Credit Reports and Identity Theft
Your Guide to Small Claims Court
Contact Us
1-713-743-2168
The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Federal law allows you to withhold payment from your credit card company if the goods you purchase never arrive. But you must act quickly. Under the law, you must dispute your bill within 60 days of when it is sent. Wait too long and you lose you rights! Click here for more.
Scams Targeting Senior Citizens
Senior citizens, beware! Con artists want to take advantage of you, and they've already made billions of dollars taking advantage of people like you. The scams targeting elderly appear in many forms. Sometimes the scams are done by telephone or door-to-door, in-person meetings. Other scams target the elderly through the Internet. Experts estimate that senior citizens lost nearly $3 billion to elder abuse last year alone. What can you do to protect yourself and your family? Click here for more.
Small Claims Court Brings Big Wins
Have you been cheated by a big company? Do you feel like you can't do anything about it? You might be wrong. After a recent string of cases against companies like AT&T and Honda, its obvious that consumers have one powerful option. With a little motivation, some research, and a day away from work, you can take your complaint to small claims court. Best of all, you won't need an attorney. Small claims court has very relaxed rules and is the perfect venue for "small" disputes (valued below $10,000). Is small claims court right for you? Click here for more.
Your Money
Should you borrow against your home equity? Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Voluntary payment rule bars class action. The Sixth Circuit held that a customer’s voluntary payment of a Budget Rent-A-Car fuel service fee bars his consumer class action challenging that charge. Budget argued that the plaintiff’s lawsuit was barred by Ohio’s voluntary payment doctrine because the plaintiff had paid the $13.99 fee when he returned his car. Generally, under the voluntary payment doctrine, one who voluntarily makes a payment to another cannot later sue merely because he was mistaken as to his liability to pay. The court here concluded that the doctrine applied to bar the plaintiff’s class action. Click here for more.