| Volume 125 Number 8 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Texas doesn’t have alimony, but in some cases a spouse may be awarded “spousal support.” If you have been married at least ten years and cannot support yourself, the court may order your spouse to pay support following a divorce. Click here for more.
Santander Bank to Pay $10 Million Fine for Illegal Overdraft Practices
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has ordered Santander Bank to pay a $10 million fine for illegal overdraft service practices. In a statement released by CFPB, the agency stated that Santander’s telemarketing vendor deceptively marketed overdraft services and signed bank customers up for the service without their consent. In addition to paying the fine, Santander Bank must go back and give consumers the opportunity to provide their affirmative consent to overdraft service, not use a vendor to telemarket its overdraft service, and increase oversight of vendors it uses to telemarket consumer financial products or services. From 2010 to 2014, Santander marketed and enrolled consumers in its “Account Protector” overdraft service for ATM and one-time debit card transactions, and charged consumers $35 per overdraft. Santander used a telemarketer to call consumers to persuade them to opt in to the overdraft service and rewarded the telemarketer with a higher hourly rate when it hit specified sales targets. Click here for more.
Your Money
Congress has agreed on new rules for airlines that benefit consumers. The agreement requires airlines to seat families with children together without charging them more, accelerate the security screening process and issue prompt refunds for baggage fees when luggage is lost for more than 12 hours. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Failure to sign agreement defeats motion to compel arbitration. The Eastern District of Pennsylvania held that by its own terms an arbitration agreement must be signed to be a valid contract. The court concluded that this language was a clear and unambiguous statement of mutual intent that the parties would only relinquish their litigation rights if they signed the agreement. Because defendant had not signed the “Mutual Agreement” and was not formally bound by it, neither was the plaintiff. Accordingly, the court overruled the motion to dismiss. Shank v. Fiserv, Inc. (ED PA). Click here for more.