| Volume 112 Number 8 |
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
Be careful choosing and using an ATM. Because of "skimming" scams, where criminals install their own card reader over the actual card reader to steal your information, often set up where they can also record the entry of you PIN number, it is best to choose ATMs inside banks or stores you trust. This link has tips to protect you from this and other debit card scams. Click here for more.
Federal Trade Commission Takes on Fraudulent Crowdfunders
With the rising popularity of fundraising sites like Kickstarter and GoFundMe, it was only a matter of time before online scammers found a way to get in on the action. The Federal Trade Commission has announced a consent judgment in it's first crowdfunding case against a person who raised $122,000 in an apparent scam. Erik Chevalier said that he was going to produce board games, raised the money, but later cancelled the project. He had promised to refund the money, but instead used the funds for personal expenses. The order requires that Chevalier refrain from fraudulent crowdfunding and repay the money, but consumers may be out of luck as none of the money raised has been found, and Chevalier may have spent it all. Click here for more.
Your Money
We all love our pets, but is pet insurance worth the cost? The answer may be different for different people. This article discusses what you should think about when shopping for insurance for your pets. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Exemplary damages cap is not an affirmative defense. The Texas Supreme Court held that: (i) the exemplary damages cap, TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM.CODE§41.008(b), is not a matter ”constituting an avoidance or affirmative defense” and need not be affirmatively pleaded because it applies automatically when invoked and does not require proof of additional facts, and (ii) because Petitioner timely asserted the cap in her motion for new trial, the exemplary damages must be capped at $200,000. Zorilla v. Aypco Constr. II, LLC Click here for more.