| Volume 26 Number 4 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Writing a check when you do not have enough money in the bank is criminal and criminal charges may be filed. Stopping payment on a check because you are dissatisfied with the goods or services purchased is not, provided the money would have been available to pay it if payment had not been stopped.
Peer-to-Peer Online Lending Grows in Tight Economy
The credit crunch has meant that many deserving consumers, who once qualified for home equity or personal loans, are being shunned by banks or offered loans that cost too much. On the flip side, the effort to fix the credit crunch is sticking savers with miserly interest rates. Put two groups of unhappy people together and they just might do business. Click here for more.
When to Walk Away From a Mortgage
It's a moral issue only if you have a choice -- and many people don't. Ask yourself 3 key questions to decide whether it's worthwhile to keep trying to hang on to your house. Click here for more.
Why You Need an Emergency Fund
Everybody needs an emergency fund. Not just those of us living paycheck-to-paycheck or coming fresh out of college. We all need money set aside for a rainy day. Why? Click here for more.
Credit Card Rewards Are a Real Rip Off
You got burned with frequent flier miles, which were nearly impossible to redeem and hardly worth the hassle, so credit card issuers turned to other kinds of incentives to entice you to charge more. But most rewards programs aren't much better, and consumers are still eager to sign up for them despite the same old traps. Click here for more.
Your Money
Buy or rent your next home Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Supreme Court rules on paralegal fees. The United States Supreme Court ruled that Paralegal fees awarded to a prevailing party under the Equal Access to Justice Act are calculated according to prevailing market rates, not the lower calculation of "reasonable cost." The Court noted that Paralegals are surely more analogous to attorneys, experts, and agents than to studies, analyses, reports, tests, and projects. Click here for more.