| Volume 124 Number 2 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Time to end your lease? Trying to avoid losing your security deposit so you tell the landlord to keep it for the last month's rent? Bad idea. Under the law, you could owe your landlord three times the deposit plus $100 if you do that. A better idea—pay your rent, give proper notice and a forwarding address and take advantage of the Texas Security Deposit Law, which lets you get three times the deposit plus $100 if it is not properly returned. Click here for more.
Payday Lenders Face New Pushback
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed new rules to end payday loan traps, including a “full-payment” test that would require lenders to determine beforehand whether the consumer can afford to repay their loans without reborrowing. According to the CFPB payday loans usually have an average annual percentage rate of around 390%. These rules are aimed at preventing consumers from falling into endless debt traps. Click here for more.
Your Money
If you have a 401(k) from a former employer, there are a few things you could choose to do with your account. You could cash it out, which is almost never the best option. You could leave it where it is, or combine it with your current employer's plan. Or, you can roll it into an IRA, which can be an excellent option. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Filing a proof of claim on a time-barred debt violates FDCPA. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed its 2014 holding that a debt collector violates the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act when it files a proof of claim in a bankruptcy case on a debt that it knows to be time-barred. In this case, the debt collector argued that the earlier decision put the FDCPA and the Bankruptcy Code in irreconcilable conflict. The court disagreed. The court explained: Although the Code certainly allows all creditors to file proofs of claim in bankruptcy cases, the Code does not at the same time protect those creditors from all liability. A particular subset of creditors—debt collectors—may be liable under the FDCPA for bankruptcy filings they know to be time-barred. Johnson v. Midland Funding (11th Cir). Click here for more.