| Volume 143 Number 79 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. It’s also the greatest form of “scammery.” That’s why scammers are imitating a type of informal savings club known as a “sou sou” or “susu” to trick people into joining what amounts to an illegal pyramid scheme. Click here for more.
Honda recalls 600 k Odysseys, Passports and Pilots
American Honda Motor Co. is recalling 607,784 model year 2018-2020 Odysseys, model year 2019-2020 Passports and model year 2019-2021 Pilots.
Incorrect instrument panel control module software can cause the instrument panel to not display critical information, such as engine oil pressure, speedometer, and gear selector position until the next ignition cycle.
Additionally, it can prevent the rearview camera image from displaying. Click here for more.
Your Money
A home equity line of credit or home equity loan can help you borrow against the equity in your house to finance repairs or renovations that will increase your property's value. But uses may also include consolidating debt, paying for college and handling other large expenses. HELOCs and home equity loans are considered second mortgages, which you get when you have a first mortgage – the primary loan taken to purchase a property. Each loan is financed with your home as collateral, and you will need to pay both to avoid foreclosure. You may later choose to refinance your first and second mortgages into one interest rate and one payment. Record-low mortgage rates could open the door to a home equity loan or HELOC, although second mortgage interest rates are generally about 1 percentage point higher than first mortgage rates, says Bill Dallas, president, Finance of America Mortgage. Which type of financing is best may depend on your plans for the loan and your finances. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Autodialer that dials from a stored list of numbers only—qualifies as an ATDS, under TCPA. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 et seq. (“TCPA”), contains an autodialer ban, which generally makes it a finable offense to use an automatic telephone dialing system (“ATDS”) to make unconsented-to calls or texts The question in this case is whether, as a matter of statutory interpretation, the Avaya autodialer system that PHEAA uses to make collection-related calls qualifies as an ATDS. Although it is clear from the text of the autodialer definition under § 227(a) that a device that generates and dials random or sequential numbers qualifies as an ATDS, it is not clear whether a device like the Avaya system—that dials from a stored list of numbers only—qualifies as an ATDS. Fortunately, related provisions clear up any ambiguity. We hold that the plain text of § 227, read in its entirety, makes clear that devices that dial from a stored list of numbers are subject to the autodialer ban. Allan v. Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency Click here for more.