| Volume 109 Number 1 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Do you want to protect your identity but don't want to pay a service to do it for you? One thing you can do yourself is place a "credit freeze" on your credit reports. While you would need to contact the agencies to "unfreeze" your reports when you want to apply for a loan or credit, it can prevent identity thieves from getting credit in your name.
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New Credit Scoring System May Help People With Bad Credit
Because credit scores are currently calculated based primarily upon a consumer's loan repayment history, people who do not use credit, or who are too young to have started borrowing, have low scores. To make the system more fair, Equifax, LexisNexis, and Fair Isaac, the organization that created the current scoring system, are developing a program that will allow people without credit to establish a credit history based upon payment of phone and utility bills. Click here for more.
Your Money
Because cars are depreciating assets, the best way to save money on cars is to keep your used car as long as possible. Keeping a car long after you pay it off not only reduces what you pay in interest, but the vehicle’s insurance costs tend to drop over time as well. But how do you know when it makes financial sense to get rid of your old car? Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Unconscionable provisions in an arbitration clause may be severed. A California Court of Appeals held that an arbitration clause found unconscionable may be enforced if the offensive provisions are severed. The court noted that the unconscionable provisions concern only exceptions to the finality of the arbitration award, and can be deleted without affecting the core purpose and intent of the arbitration agreement. The deletion of these exceptions creates a binding arbitration award and promotes the fundamental attributes of arbitration, including speed, efficiency, and lower costs. Trabert v. Consumer Portfolio Services (Calif Ct App) Click here for more.