| Volume 144 Number 23 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Did you get a bill for a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan, but you didn’t apply for one? It’s likely that an identity thief applied for the loan using your personal or business information. Click here for more.
The pandemic may have changed car-buying as we know it
The economy was preparing to shut down a year ago as coronavirus (COVID-19) cases surged in the U.S. One industry bracing itself for the worst was the auto industry.
But a year later, it’s clear that the worst-case scenario never occurred, and the industry has spent the last few months trying to keep up with demand. In a report, Cox Automotive found the changes initiated by dealers last year proved highly popular with consumers and are likely here to stay.
Amid shelter-in-place orders, car dealerships were closed to the public. Sales cratered at first, but dealers quickly adapted to allow buyers to shop for a vehicle, negotiate terms, and even schedule a test drive all online.
What’s more, some national used car dealers already had that model in place. The study found what it called a sharp rise in the usage of “New Form Online Retailers,” which include used-vehicle-only sales sites like Carvana and Vroom. Click here for more.
Your Money
The number of people who work from home exploded in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some people will be able to take a tax deduction for their home office expenses, but many will not. The law changed in 2018 and eliminated the home office deduction for people who work for an employer. You can only qualify for the home office deduction now if you're self-employed. You're not eligible if you're an employee, even if you've been working remotely and had to set up an office in your home. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Arbitration agreement may no be enforceable in suit over memberships paid while club was closed due to covid. A California federal judge refused to toss or send to arbitration a suit claiming that ClubClub wrongly forced thousands of private club members to continue paying membership fees during the pandemic, saying there was a factual dispute over whether the members were notified about any arbitration agreements. Jeffrey Cuenco v. ClubCorp USA Inc., case number 3:20-cv-00774, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Click here for more.