| Volume 87 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
Texas has a lemon law. It applies to new cars, and gives you substantial legal rights against the manufacturer. A car is a lemon if it has been in the shop four or more times for the same problems, or two or more times if the problem is a safety defect.
To check out the Texas Lemon Law,
Click here for more.
CFPB Bans Mandatory Arbitration in Mortgages
A ban on mandatory arbitration clauses in some mortgage loans took effect June 1 as part of new rules created by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The rule prohibits mandatory arbitration clauses in residential mortgage loans or home equity lines of credit. Such loans cannot contain “terms that require arbitration or any other non-judicial procedure to resolve any controversy or settle any claims arising out of the transaction,” because consumers cannot be barred from suing in court for an alleged violation of federal law.
The ban is contained in final rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that amended the Truth in Lending Act and implemented key provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act.
The effective date means the ban covers loans for which applications are received on June 1 or later. Loans that close on or after June 1 are not covered by the rule as long as the application was received before June 1.
Mandatory arbitration clauses in existing loan documents for loans that have closed are not affected by the rule.
Further regulation on mandatory arbitration clauses in other consumer financial contracts could be on the horizon.
The CFPB is authorized by Dodd-Frank to conduct a study of mandatory arbitration provisions in financial products and service agreements and to “prohibit or impose conditions or limitations” on mandatory arbitration based on what the study finds.
Click here for more.
Linguistic Survey of American Speech
Have you ever noticed that Americans in one part of the United States will have a much different way of speaking English than Americans of another region?
Joshua Katz, a PhD student at North Carolina State University, recently produced 22 maps to demonstrate the disagreement on the pronunciation of common words by region.
How do you pronounce "crayon"? What region generally agrees with you?
Click here for more.
Your Money
Wonder if you have enough equity to quality for the best rates? Try this loan to value ratio calculator!
Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Consumer’s claim against towing company not preempted by federal law.
The Supreme Court held that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994, which regulates motor carriers, does not preempt a claim arising out of the storage and disposal of a car.
The Court noted:
Disposal of abandoned vehicles by a “storage company” is regulated by chapter 262 of the New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated. See N. H. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§262:31 to 262:40–c (West 2004 and 2012 West Cum. Supp.). Dan’s City relied on those laws to dispose of Pelkey’s vehicle for nonpayment of towing and storage fees. According to Pelkey, however, Dan’s City failed to comply with New Hampshire’s provisions governing the sale of stored vehicles and the application of sale proceeds…. We hold, in accord with the New Hampshire Supreme Court, that state-law claims stemming from the storage and disposal of a car, once towing has ended, are not sufficiently connected to a motor carrier’s service with respect to the transportation of property to warrant pre-emption under §14501(c)(1). The New Hampshire law in point regulates no towing services, no carriage of property. Instead, it trains on custodians of stored vehicles seeking to sell them. Congress did not displace the State’s regulation of that activity by any federal prescription.
Click here for more.