| Volume 116 Number 1 |
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
People's Law School tomorrow at University of Houston Law Center. Coffee and doughnuts from 8am!Click here for more.
The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Have you given up your right to go to court if you have a problem with your most important purchases? Probably. Most new home and new car contracts today contain "arbitration" clauses, in which consumers give up the right to go to court and instead submit the matter to a binding private proceeding from which there may be no appeal even for serious errors. Click here for more.
Amazon Stops Selling Rivals' Streaming Devices
As streaming video content over the Internet becomes a more important of part of Amazon's business, it has taken the controversial step to stop selling some video streaming devices which compete with it's own line of video streaming devices. Amazon has announced that it will stop selling the Google Chromecast device as well as the Apple TV box. Click here for more.
Your Money
Have you just received a new "chip" card in the mail from your bank or credit card company? If you haven't yet, expect one soon. A recent change in the law shifting the liability between credit card companies and retailers for fraudulent transactions has banks sending out the more secure credit card technology to their customers. This article provides some background on this change and what it means for you. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Law firm’s filing of summary judgment in state court not a violation of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”). The plaintiff failed to pay his credit card and a law firm specializing in debt collection sued to collect the balance in state court. In response to the creditor’s motion for summary judgment, the card holder invoked the arbitration provision in the credit card. The state court stayed the matter and the debt collector submitted the matter to arbitration, but after the arbitration company rejected application, the debt collection firm renewed the motion for summary judgment. The Seventh Circuit ruled that filing the summary judgment motion was not a violation of the FDCPA, pointing out that the debtor “seeks to transform the FDCPA into an enforcement mechanism for the arbitration provision in his credit card agreement.” Bentrud v. Bowman, Heintz, Boscia & Vician, P.C. (7th Cir. 2015). Click here for more.