| Volume 135 Number 2 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
One way to protect yourself from identity theft is to put a security freeze on your credit. This will stop identity thieves, but it will also make it harder for your account to be accessed when you need credit. For more information about the Texas security freeze Click here for more.
Why You Should Never Buy a Puppy Online
Don't be fooled: Internet puppy scammers attract potential buyers with cute photos and phony promises. Hundreds of complaints are filed every year from victims who were scammed when buying a dog online—the puppy you receive may not be the puppy you agreed to buy, or you may not receive a puppy at all. Internet scams range from fake "free to good home" ads where the buyer is asked to pay for shipping, only to never see that puppy they tried to help, to breeders posing as sanctuaries or rescues, but charging upwards of $1,000 in "adoption" fees.
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Your Money
Are you getting close to retirement and itching to take your Social Security benefits? You may want to wait. The bottom line is: waiting longer to start drawing your benefits pays. More than a third of those surveyed (38%) thought if they start taking benefits at 62, the amount will increase to their full benefit once they reach FRA. But once you start taking your benefits, you’re stuck with them. Your benefits will be reduced by 25%-30% from your maximum benefits if you start taking them at 62, so plan ahead and wait until you reach your FRA. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Supreme Court decision widens class of potential plaintiffs in Fair Housing Act cases. The case was brought by the City of Miami, alleging several major banks engaged in predatory lending practices against minority borrowers that resulted in waves of foreclosures during the Great Recession. The city claimed that it suffered a variety of harm, including frustration of its fair housing goals, increases in foreclosures and vacancies, decreases in property values and reduction in tax collections. In a 5–3 decision, the Court endorsed a broad reading of the concept of an “aggrieved person” under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), saying that the city had sufficient economic injury to fall within the FHA’s coverage. The court, however, refused to consider the second question raised by the banks—whether the city had established that the banks’ conduct was the proximate cause of the injury the city claimed. The fact that the injury alleged was foreseeable was not sufficient to show causation: “the housing market is interconnected with economic and social life,” and “[n]othing in the [FHAct] suggests that Congress intended to provide a remedy wherever those ripples travel.” The Court remanded and directed the lower court to examine these proximate cause issues in detail. Bank of America Corp. v. City of Miami (2017). Click here for more.