| Volume 86 Number 6 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Extended warranties, or service contracts, are usually not a good buy or even necessary. Stores make a large profit selling these contracts and often pressure consumers into buying them. Take your time and think carefully before you buy an expensive warranty that you don't even need.
For more general information about the law, check out my website.
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YouTube Begins Charging Consumers
Last week, YouTube introduced a series of pay channels on its video platform. For the first time, users will have to pay for access to certain types of content. The subscription channels, which range from $0.99 to $7.99 a month, include content from the makers of Sesame Street to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The subscription service allows content creators to generate more revenue than YouTube's ad-supported video platform. YouTube is offering a 14 day free trial for consumers who want to try it out.
Would you be willing to pay to watch videos on YouTube?
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House Approves Change to Overtime Laws
By a vote of 223-204, the United States House of Representatives approved new overtimes rules that would allow workers to trade overtime pay for extra time off. The bill would allow workers who log more than 40 hours a week to earn up to 160 hours of future time off.
Critics blast the bill, claiming that it gives employers leverage to pressure workers not to take overtime pay. Furthermore, they insist it doesn't provide any guarantee of when the employees could use the time off.
Would such a change in overtime rules ultimately help, or hurt, hardworking employees?
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California Sues JPMorgan for Debt Fraud
Last week, California Attorney General Kamala Harris filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan alleging that the company "engaged in fraudulent and unlawful debt-collection practices against tens of thousands of Californians."
According to the complaint, JPMorgan used unlawful practices in collecting credit card debts, including robo-signing documents without checking records and cases for accuracy. Furthermore, Harris alleges that JPMorgan failed to properly serve and notify defendants.
From 2008 to 2011, JPMorgan filed over 100,000 cases in California over delinquent credit card debt.
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Your Money
Should you buy or rent?
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For the Lawyers
Debt Collector can continue to call debtor's brother in-law. The Fourth Circuit held that a debt collector's repeated phone calls to the debtor's brother-in-law did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act because the collector reasonably believed he gave incomplete earlier responses.
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