| Volume 100 Number 10 |
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
In Texas, a tenant who moves into an apartment is entitled to a working smoke detector, a peephole in the front door, and proper security on all doors and windows, including a dead bolt on the front door.
For more information on your rights as a tenant, check out the landlord / tenant section on my website!
Click here for more.
Make a Bill Haggle Day
When was the last time you tried to save money on your monthly expenses? Did you know that a simple phone call to your service providers could save you quite a bit of money?
This week, The Consumerist featured a column on Bill Haggle Day. In short, the idea is for you to set aside one day when you can call the companies who account for your regular, recurring expenses. Whether it's your cable company, electric company, or Internet provider, there's money to be saved.
So what do you need to do?
First, shop around! What are the best available rates? What are competitors charging for similar services? Once you know what others are paying, you'll have an idea of what to ask for.
Second, call your provider and ask if it can do better. Be nice! After all, you get more bees with honey! However, let them know you're willing to go elsewhere if you can't get a better price. Remember, these companies want to keep your business.
Finally, rinse and repeat. Try this with all of your monthly expenses. There's no good reason you shouldn't get the same good offers others are receiving just because you're an existing customer.
Click here for more.
The True Cost of Car Crashes
Recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a report providing a detailed report of the economic cost of car crashes. The total cost? About $870 billion in the most recent year studied.
Brian Wolfman breaks it all down for you at the Consumer Law & Policy Blog. Drunk driving accounts for 18% of total economic loss from motor vehicle accidents. Speeding accounts for 21% while distraction makes up 17% of total economic loss from motor vehicle accidents.
What's the true economic cost of motor vehicle accidents? How does it all break down?
Click here for more.
Facebook Forcing Move to Messenger
If you want to continue messaging your friends on Facebook, you'll have to do so through the Messenger app. If you don't download the app, you'll lose the ability to send mobile messages to your friends entirely.
Currently, Facebook is notifying users of the change, encouraging them to download the dedicated app. For its part, Facebook said it will "focus development efforts on making Messenger the best mobile messaging experience possible [to] avoid the confusion of having separate Facebook mobile messaging experiences."
Click here for more.
Your Money
Is your home's value greater than your mortgage loan? Do you have enough equity to qualify for better rates?
Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Payday loan is substantively and procedurally unconscionable.
The New Mexico Supreme Court held that notwithstanding the fact that the interest charged did not violate other state lending laws, the payday lenders loan was unconscionable. The court stated, “We hold that loans bearing interest rates of 1,147.14 to 1,500 percent contravene the public policy of the State of New Mexico, and the interest rate term in Defendants’ signature loans is substantively unconscionable and invalid.”
Click here for more.