| Volume 143 Number 77 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Remember when stores ran out of toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and face masks? Well, now COVID-19 is cause for a new shortage: coins.
Here are some tips to avoid losing money next time you go out shopping. Click here for more.
Southwest Airlines stops sanitizing armrests and seat belts between flights
The whole airline industry’s response to the coronavirus pandemic continues to get more interesting. On Tuesday, Delta Air Lines announced tighter requirements for face coverings and now, Southwest Airlines seems to be leaning the other way.
In a memo obtained by USA Today, Southwest said it will no longer be disinfecting armrests and seat belts between flights, opting to disinfect only high-touch areas like lavatories and tray tables.
When ConsumerAffairs contacted Southwest for the reasons behind this move, its chief rationale was that optimizing staffing and cleaning processes is necessary because the available time between flights is getting tighter as its schedule reverts back to normal. Click here for more.
Your Money
When a lender requests your credit score from a credit bureau, your score will reflect what's in your credit report at that point in time. Your credit report doesn't stand still for long, so when it's updated again, it usually produces a different credit score. This cycle can occur many, many times just over the course of one day. Understanding how this process works can help you plan when you want to apply for credit. It will also help you decide the optimal time to make a credit card payment if you're trying to boost your score. Here's what you need to know about the ever-changing nature of your credit report and your credit score. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
DTPA claim is not added to Magnuson-Moss for purposes of amount in controversy. Plaintiff sued BMW under Magnuson-Moss and the DTPA. Plaintiff sued in federal court claiming the amount in controversy exceeded the $50,000 required by Magnuson-Moss. The court found that the amount alleged for warranty damages under Magnuson-Moss did not exceed the statutory limit. Plaintiff then argued that the amount recoverable under the DTPA should be added to the amount in controversy. The court disagreed. It found that, while the Court could consider treble damages under the DTPA if it were conducting a diversity jurisdiction analysis of the amount in controversy…, the Court may not do so when determining the amount in controversy in an MMWA claim. Alam v. BMW of N. Am., LLC, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134220 (W.D. Tex. 2020). Click here for more.