| Volume 24 Number 13 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Extended warranties, or service contracts, are usually not a good buy or even necessary. Stores make a large profit selling these contracts and often pressure consumers into buying them. Take your time and think carefully before you buy an expensive item that you don't even need.
Retailers Vie For Your Rebate Spending
With many consumers about to receive tax rebates worth hundreds of dollars, a handful of retail chains are dangling discounts and promotions to try to get people to spend their checks in the companies' stores. Click here for more.
Claims That Boost Your Insurance Rates
In some cases, filing a claim for auto or homeowners damage just isn't worth it. In addition to getting socked with higher premiums, you could find it harder to get coverage later. Click here for more.
Gas-Saving Devices Mostly a Scam
Over the years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has tested a myriad of gas-saving devices that burst onto the consumer scene. These include devices that bleed air into the carburetor or bubble air through a container of water and antifreeze mixture, fuel-line gadgets that heat the gas before it enters the carburetor, magnets that clamp to the inside or outside of the fuel line to change the gasoline's molecular structure, and metallic fuel line additives with dissimilar metals that claim to ionize the fuel. Click here for more.
Weigh Risks Carefully Before Co-Signing On Student Loan
College students usually don't have much of a financial track record, so to obtain a private loan for school, they frequently need a co-signer. And with lenders taking a harder look at borrowers during this credit crunch, the need for co-signers will only grow. But as much as you want to help a student, think twice before putting yourself in this situation. Better yet, think 20 times. And then think again. Click here for more.
Your Money
Calculate your estate tax liability Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
One-sided arbitration clause is enforceable. The North Carolina Supreme Court has held that an arbitration clause in a loan agreement that imposed high costs on the consumer and prohibited class action claims was not to one-sided to be enforced. The court stated, "The arbitration agreements are not unenforceable because they preclude class actions. The trial court erred in applying a requirement of mutuality to the arbitration agreements that is contrary to North Carolina law. Viewed separately or together, these three provisions of the arbitration agreements do not render them unconscionable." Click here for more.