| Volume 114 Number 15 |
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
Did you just get a call from Rachel at "Card Services" telling you that you are eligible for a rate decrease? In fact, Rachel and her friends at "Card Services" are robocall scammers, looking to steal your credit card information. This link tells you what to do when robocall scammers call you. Click here for more.
China’s Economy Gives No Reason to Panic
Conventional wisdom blames the turmoil in the US stock markets on the recent fall in China’s stock market, and a slowing in China’s economy that has affected countries that export commodities to China such as Australia and Brazil. In fact, China’s economy and markets appear quite robust compared to most countries, and give no reason for panic. China’s growth is not expected to fall much below 7% this year, wages there are still growing at a pace of 10% annually, and the Chinese stock market is still valued at price to earnings ratios more than twice those found in US markets.
Click here for more.
Your Money
Everyone is suddenly claiming to have “called” the recent stock market correction, but what does that mean for you? As the dust settles it appears that there are logical reasons for the market’s adjustments, such as the fact that for a time the average pricing of earnings has been at a point slightly above historical averages. Is there reason to panic? Not according to this analysis that puts this correction into historical perspective. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Entity collecting a debt that was acquired after default, and which the entity now owns, is not a “debt collector” under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) unless the principal purpose of the entity’s business is the collection of debts or the entity regularly collects debts owed to others. Capital One purchased the account in question as part of a portfolio of credit card accounts from HSBC. The plaintiff argued, in keeping with the majority rule, that Capital One fell within the definition of “debt collector” under § 1692a(6)(F)(iii) because the subject debt was in default at the time it was acquired by Capital One. The Eleventh Circuit disagreed, stating that before a defendant can be brought within the scope of the FDCPA, it must satisfy one of the two “substantive requirements” of the “debt collector” definition: either having a principal purpose of debt collection or regularly collecting debts owed or due another. Davidson v. Capital One Bank (USA), N.A. (11th Cir. 2015) Click here for more.