| Volume 142 Number 40 |
Subscribe to the Newsletter
Forward this news alert to your family and friends
Helpful Links
Texas Consumer Complaint Center
Credit Reports and Identity Theft
Your Guide to Small Claims Court
Contact Us
1-713-743-2168
The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
If you’re trying to clean up your credit, you’ll come across plenty of companies offering an easy fix. But any company promising instant results for a price is likely a scam. Click here for more.
FTC and states launch coordinated action against robocallers
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a number of states have joined forces to crack down on illegal robocalls. The law enforcement partners announced a total of 94 actions targeting telemarketers around the country that are responsible for at least some of the calls -- interruptions that pitch everything from bogus interest rate reduction services to money-making schemes to medical alert systems. Click here for more.
Your Money
Knowing your loan's interest rate matters, as does learning how that rate is calculated. Interest is either simple or compound. If you have a simple interest loan, interest is based only on the principal. You can easily calculate your interest using the principal, the interest rate and the loan term. Compound interest, on the other hand, is interest on the principal, plus any interest that has accrued. Simple interest loans can include auto and personal loans, mortgages, and some student loans. If you have any of these loans or plans to borrow, learning more about simple interest can help you understand the true cost. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Supreme Court refuses to hear challenge to “Cy Pres” award. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to an arrangement that steered leftover class action settlement funds to universities instead of class members. This was the second cy pres arrangement it remanded this year. The Court denied a request for the justices to review a $3 million in cy pres payments included as part of a settlement resolving claims that Provide Commerce Inc. duped consumers into signing up for an online membership rewards program. As part of that deal, approved by a California federal court in 2012, Provide and marketing agency Encore Marketing International Inc. agreed to set up a $12.5 million cash settlement fund to reimburse 1.3 million potential class members who submit claims. Provide Commerce also agreed to give all customers a $20 credit with certain restrictions. After only about 3,000 consumers submitted valid claims, around $3 million in unclaimed funds were distributed as cy pres payments to San Diego State University, the University of California at San Diego and the University of San Diego School of Law. Objectors argued that the companies' deal with class counsel and the universities, one of which is the alma mater of several members of plaintiffs' counsel, ran afoul of Rule 23(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which requires that class action settlements be "fair, reasonable and adequate." The Court refused to review the settlement. Brian Perryman v. Josue Romero, et al., case number 18-1074, in the U.S. Supreme Court of the United States. Click here for more.