| Volume 118 Number 6 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Many companies encourage (or require) that you give them authority to automatically debit your checking account for payments. While it is easy to authorize such payments, it can be difficult to stop them. In many cases you will have to send the company a written notice that you are withdrawing their authority to debit your account, and then provide your bank with a written order to stop those payments as well, sometimes attaching the notice letter you provided the company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has useful information about these automatic debits, and resources to help you stop them. Click here for more.
Amazon Halts Sale of Some Hoverboards
While hoverboards are a hot seller this year, they may be harder to find at retailers this shopping season because of safety issues. Apparently the lithium-ion batteries in some cheap hoverboards pose a fire risk, and Amazon has halted the sale of many hoverboards that had appeared on its website. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating at least 10 reports of fires related to hoverboards, and all of the major US airlines now ban them on flights. Click here for more.
Your Money
Not all debt is created equal. Examples of "good" debt include home loans that allow you to build equity in your home, and student loan debt, which should pay for itself in increased wages over your working life. "Bad" debt is the kind that really weighs you down, such as high interest credit card debt, and you should pay that down first, or avoid it altogether if you can. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
If your client stops communicating with you and seemingly disappears how far do you have to go to convince a court to allow you withdraw from representation? In Caveman Foods, LLC v. Ann Payne’s Caveman Foods, LLC, the Eastern District of California held that at the very least you need to do a Google search and exhaust the contact possibilities you find online before you apply to the court. The firm's failure to do so resulted in denial of the motion to withdraw as well as a violation of Rule 11 for failure to conduct a "reasonable inquiry" that the facts presented to the court in the motion were true. Click here for more.