| Volume 144 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
With rental car availability at an all-time low, prices are sky high. So, if you suddenly find an available car at a cheap price, you might be dealing with scammers looking to cash in on the rental car shortage. Click here for more.
American Airlines is cutting back flights during the summer
American Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights over the weekend as stormy weather battered parts of the South. The carrier also disclosed plans to trim its flight schedule by 1% through the middle of next month.
The cuts come amid a surge in travel bookings and that, apparently, is part of the issue. American is concerned its current schedule, beefed up in early spring as the economy began to reopen, will strain operations.
Not only does the airline have to make sure it has enough flight crew members to operate each flight, it also depends on mechanics, baggage handlers, and third-party service providers like caterers. With the current labor shortage, many of these jobs are unfilled.
Airline executives said the weekend’s bad weather underscored the difficulty of summertime operations, when planes are full but the weather is uncertain. Click here for more.
Your Money
If you buy mortgage points, you can lower the interest you pay on your loan, whether you're buying a home or refinancing. But you'll only save money if you stay in the house long enough to make up for the upfront expense. Here's what you should know as you consider buying points on your mortgage. Mortgage points, also known as discount points, are fees you pay your lender at closing for a reduced interest rate on your loan. The mortgage lender will receive cash up front in exchange for giving you a lower interest rate for the life of the loan. Paying mortgage discount points is often called "buying down the rate" and could offer savings over the course of the loan. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
In re Briar Bldg. Hous. Llc, 2021 Bankr. LEXIS 1603 (Bankr. S.D. Tex. 2021). DTPA does not apply. A Texas bankruptcy court found that a transaction at issue was outside the scope of the DTPA, finding that, “Here, the plain language of the Contract reveals that the underlying consideration for the transaction was, at a minimum, $1,500,000.” The court also believed that the DTPA did not apply to commercial property stating, “the plain language of the Contract places the transaction involving the Rivercrest Property outside the protections of the DTPA as a matter of law because it involves a commercial property, not a residential property.” It does not appear that whether the property is commercial or residential affects the application of the DTPA. Click here for more.