| Volume 79 Number 3 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
If you die without a will, the law determines who will inherit your property. Only if there are no living heirs will it go to the state. In Texas, as a general rule, if you die without a will your community property goes to your spouse, children, parents, brothers and sisters, and so on – in that order. Click here for more.
Facebook Hits 1 Billion Users
It started just eight years ago, but its membership now includes one-seventh of the entire world's population. In October 2012, Facebook hit one billion members, more than three times the size of the United States population alone (314,500,000).
The ability the reach one out of every seven people on the planet is extremely valuable. Perhaps most amazing is the rate at which Facebook's membership has grown. It took more than five years for the company to reach 500,000 users, but only about two years to to double that number.
How much bigger can Facebook get? Click here for more.
Credit Card Defaults Reach 11-Year Low
Great news for the credit card industry - consumers are paying their bills. Payment delinquency on credit cards has dropped to the lowest levels since 2001, with only 2.93% of accounts 30 days or more overdue. Industry analysts suggest that economic uncertainty has driven consumers to pay down debt, build a strong financial base, and avoid new debt. If you're facing financial hardship, make sure you prioritize your debt obligations. Home loans, rent, and car notes should take priority over unsecured debt (like credit cards). Click here for more.
Your Money
Should you consolidate your debts? Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Debt collector must disclose his company name. The district court for Colorado held that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act requires a debt collector to disclose its company name in a voicemail left for the consumer. The court noted that the Act required meaningful disclosure of the caller’s identity. The only way for an identity disclosure to be meaningful to a consumer is if it disclosed the name of the collection agency, rather than the personal name of the caller. Click here for more.