| Volume 132 Number 6 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
The “statute of limitations” for a debt generally is four years after default. If you are sued after that, you can have the suit dismissed. Click here for more.
Consumer prices post largest gain in nearly four years
U.S. consumer prices recorded their biggest increase in nearly four years in January as households paid more for gasoline and other goods, suggesting inflation pressures could be picking up. The Fed has a 2 percent inflation target and tracks an inflation measure which is currently at 1.7 percent. Gradually firming inflation and a tightening labor market could allow the Fed to raise interest rates at least twice this year.
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Your Money
Top Scams Targeting Senior Citizens. An IRS impersonation fraud that has victimized thousands of Americans leads a 2017 U.S. Senate ranking of the Top 10 scams targeting senior citizens. Dubbed by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration as the most pervasive impersonation fraud in IRS history, the swindle involves suspected scammers based in the U.S. and India who telephone Americans and threaten arrests unless purported tax debts aren't paid immediately. At least 1.97 million people have been targeted, with as many as 200 victimized per week during the scam's peak last year, according to the inspector general. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Consumer had standing to bring claim for violation of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York denied defendant debt collector’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s putative class action alleging violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq. (“FDCPA”). The court found that plaintiff sufficiently alleged a substantive violation of the FDCPA that demonstrates a concrete and particularized injury-in-fact, or, alternatively, a procedural violation of the FDCPA that poses a risk of real harm to plaintiff’s statutory interests. In denying defendant’s motion to dismiss, the District Court determined that Spokeo addressed standing for procedural violation of statutes, not substantive violations. Bautz v. ARS Nat’l Servs., Inc., (E.D.N.Y. 2016). Click here for more.