| Volume 106 Number 2 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
If some one makes you an offer to pay you a percentage to cash checks for them, say "no thanks." These are all rip-offs and scams and you will be left owing the bank a lot of money.
For more general information about the law, check out my website.
Click here for more.
Thieves Book Trips Using Stolen Miles
Hackers and thieves have moved beyond just taking your money the traditional way. Now, it appears thieves are targeting consumers' award points and miles.
Both United Airlines and American Airlines are picking up the pieces after thieves breached tens of thousands of frequent flyer accounts to book trips and upgrades.
Both airlines insist that no security breach occurred within their systems. Instead, they suggest the thieves found the account credentials elsewhere and used them to steal from the accounts.
So where did they get them? Well, nobody really knows. Despite that, American and United are returning miles to consumers and, in some instances, freezing accounts while new ones are setup.
Could thieves access and use your rewards points?
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New Hospital Rules Help Poor Patients
Low income patients now have some new safeguards to protect them against nonprofit hospitals trying to collect on delinquent medical bills.
Issued at the end of last year by the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department, the new rules require nonprofit hospitals to determine whether a patient is eligible for assistance before sending an account to collection or taking other negative action. That assistance? Well, the new rules require nonprofit hospitals to offer discounts, financial assistance, or even free care to certain needy patients.
Medical bills can be a huge burden for any family. For the needy, medical debt could even more debilitating.
About 60% of hospitals nationwide are tax exempt and have nonprofit status.
To read about the new rules,
Click here for more.
Gas Prices Continue to Drop as Oil Plunges
You've probably noticed... Gas prices are extraordinarily low right now. In fact, they're the lowest they've been in years. It wasn't that long ago that gas prices were hovering around the $4.00 mark. At the time, industry analysts were predicting gas prices to go even higher.
Nationally, the average gas price stands at $2.13 a gallon (and still dropping). In 18 states, the average price is already below $2.00 a gallon.
Why did gas prices fall so sharply? Just last year the average price for a gallon of gas was $3.31. As you know, gas prices are tied to oil prices. Right now, oil is trading at $46.07 a barrel. In June 2014, crude oil was going for nearly $110.00 a barrel. According to many expects, the days of $100 a barrel oil are gone (at least for now). And, right now, the supply of oil just far outweighs the demand for it.
Although it's difficult to truly predict, chances are that gas prices will sink even lower before they start to rebound. In the meantime, you get to save some extra cash.
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Your Money
How much should you be saving for college?
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For the Lawyers
Class action law helps defendants remove cases to federal court.
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that a defendant removing a class action lawsuit to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 does not need to include actual evidence in establishing the required amount in controversy.
The Court ruled that a lower court’s decision to remand the case to state court was based in part on its erroneous application of a presumption against removal — a rule that federal courts must "narrowly construe" removal statutes and resolve all doubts in favor of remand.
Click here for more.