| Volume 130 Number 3 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
There are many places that promise to “repair” or “fix” your credit for an upfront fee but no one can remove negative information, such as late payments, from a credit report if it is accurate. You can only get your credit report fixed if it contains errors and you can do that on your own. Click here for more.
Amazon Reveals Grocery Store with No Checkout Lines
Earlier this week Amazon unveiled plans to open a grocery store with a special feature--no checkout lines. The internet commerce store is calling it "Just Walk Out Technology." Shoppers enter the store by scanning an app on their phone. They pick up items and then just walk out. According to Amazon, the store's technology will track items taken from the shelves and charge the shoppers' Amazon account as soon as they walk out of the store. Amazon plans to open its first grocery store in Seattle next year. Click here for more.
Your Money
If you're applying for auto loans don't stress out too much about the effect on your credit score. Shopping for the best deal on an auto loan will generally have little to no impact on your credit score. The benefit of shopping for a low rate will far outweigh any impact on your credit. In some cases, applying for multiple loans over a long period of time can lower your credit score. Generally any requests or "inquiries" by these lenders for your credit score that took place within a time span ranging from 14 days to 45 days will only count as a single inquiry, depending on the credit scoring model used. You can minimize any negative impact to your credit by doing all of your shopping in a short amount of time. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
District court retains original jurisdiction over state law claims following the dismissal of class action claims brought under the CAFA. The U.S. Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA), codified at 28 U.S.C. §1332(d), conveys original subject matter jurisdiction to federal courts when the aggregated claims of the class members exceed $5 million, the proposed class has at least 100 members, and at least one class member is a citizen of a state different from any defendant. Plaintiff initially filed all of its claims – state and federal – in federal court, alleging that jurisdiction existed under CAFA. After its class claims were dismissed, Plaintiff sought to dismiss and refile its state law claims in Alabama state court. Defendants argued that under CAFA the federal district court could not divest itself of original jurisdiction over the remaining claims. The Eleventh Circuit agreed. Wright Transportation, Inc. v. Pilot Corporation, et al (11th Cir. 2016). Click here for more.