Consumer Law

Credit card rates are at a two-year

Posted on March 14, 2008
Credit card rates are at a two-year low according to indexcreditcards.com. Now is the perfect time to negotiate a lower rate or jump ship to a better card with a lower rate. [via Alpha Consumer]

Caveat Emptor Playlist: the sub-prime market explained

Posted on March 13, 2008
This is at once quite funny and quite instructive.

Cost of hiring an attorney: consumer lawyers vs. regular lawyers

Posted on March 13, 2008
In response to Nick’s post in which he asked why people do not call a lawyer, several responded that the cost of hiring an attorney was prohibitive. Let me say this loud and clear: Most consumer lawyers will not charge you for a consultation. Further, most will not charge you for their services unless they win [...

A dialogue with our readers

Posted on March 12, 2008
Hey, 2 questions I would like you to answer: 1. What information are you looking for when you come to this website? 2. When people feel that they have been ripped off, defrauded, or harassed enough that they are willing to post a complaint at one of the many websites for complaints, why don’t the at least [...

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How to hold onto your security deposit

Posted on March 11, 2008
Landlords routinely ask for a security deposit–usually one month’s rent–when renting. The security (or damage) deposit is a way for the landlord to recover for unusual damage. Holes in the wall, for example, or stains in the carpet. It is not a way for a landlord to fix damage that is the result of ordinary [...

Avoid Telephone Bill Scams

Posted on March 10, 2008
What You Need to Know About Bogus Charges on Your Phone Bill

Looks like YouWalkAway.com was

Posted on March 06, 2008
Looks like YouWalkAway.com was one of those “right place, right time” startups. Bloomberg reports that foreclosures are skyrocketing as more and more homeowners just give up. Mortgages are secured loans, after all. Banks just never counted on having to accept the collateral instead of the payback...

Attention: do not take out a 9-year auto loan (for crying out loud)!

Posted on March 05, 2008
Lenders around the country are apparently offering 9-year auto loans mortgages. I am willing to make a sizable wager that 90% or more of the people who take out a 9-year auto loan will be upside-down on their loan when they trade in their whip for a shiny new one...

Minnesota finally sues for breathalyzer source code

Posted on March 04, 2008
As in other states, Minnesota courts have started to find that defendants charged with driving under the influence have the right to confront their accuser–in these cases, a breathalyzer. But CMI, the Kentucky firm that makes the breathalyzer unit used in Minnesota, has long refused, resulting in overturned convictions, reinstated licenses, and a lot of [...

Minnesota lawmakers consider three foreclosure bills

Posted on March 03, 2008
The proposed bills would work together to address the deepening foreclosure crisis in Minnesota. From the StarTribune: One would prod homeowners facing foreclosure to get help, even forwarding their phone numbers to foreclosure prevention counselors...

More on walking away from your

Posted on February 29, 2008
More on walking away from your mortgage from the New York Times. [via Consumerist]

Your attorney general and Better Business Bureau

Posted on February 28, 2008
From MSNBC, an interactive map of the attorney general and Better Business Bureau in every state. If you are going to complain, make sure you hit these two, for starters. [via Consumerist]

It is a good idea to check your

Posted on February 27, 2008
It is a good idea to check your property for liens every once in a while, which any title company should be able to do. Otherwise, it may be too late when you finally find out that some unscrupulous debt collector placed a lien on your property for an unsecured credit card debt...

Consumers protect yourselves

Posted on February 27, 2008
Caveat Emptor–buyer beware. While it isn’t really the law of the land, the public is generally ignorant of the fact that it has rights and there are more than a few judges who are also clueless as to consumer rights, so that too often people get ripped off and abused simply because they don’t know...

Consumer issues are not partisan

Posted on February 27, 2008
Consumer issues should not be “red state-blue state” issues. Everyone is a consumer. Republicans, Democrats, independents, Greens, Libertarians, anarchists . . . Everyone. Debt collectors are not out to get Democrats, and mortgage brokers are not selling subprime loans only to Republicans...

Sure you owe somebody for your

Posted on February 27, 2008
Sure you owe somebody for your mortgage loan, but who? Since lenders buy and sell loans so frequently, many are unable to prove they own the loans they hold, resulting in as much as $2.1 trillion in “orphan” loans. Says former foreclosure victim Joe Lents: “If you’re going to take my house away from me, [...

Scammer BlueHippo coughed up $5

Posted on February 26, 2008
Scammer BlueHippo coughed up $5 million to settle its dispute with the FTC over its uber-expensive, bargain-bin computer “deals.” Next on BlueHippo’s to-do list: settle the class action brought by consumers. [via Consumerist]

Call an attorney already

Posted on February 26, 2008
People will sprain their ankle at the supermarket and call an attorney before they leave the store, but will endure months of harassment by a debt collector and never call an attorney who can help stop the harassment and get compensation for the resulting emotional harm...

Debt collectors filed more than 36,000 lawsuits in Minnesota in 2007

Posted on February 26, 2008
According to the Strib, debt collection lawsuits and default judgment filings are skyrocketing, and went up to more than 36,000 for 2007. 36,000!!! For crying out loud. That’s 3,000 per month! And those are just the lawsuits that actually get filed...

The economy is tanking, which means

Posted on February 25, 2008
The economy is tanking, which means it is time to take a good, hard look at your credit card spending habits to see if they are out of control. [CNN]

Attention Big Business: listen to our complaints and give us what we want

Posted on February 25, 2008
Cory Doctorow just published a provocative column in the Guardian, “In Defense of Complaining,” in which he argues that complaints, specifically about crippling technology and licensing restrictions, are part of the marketplace in which companies must operate...

Consumer activism on the rise

Posted on February 25, 2008
Consumer activism is in vogue these days. BusinessWeek just ran a story called “Consumer Vigilantes” about consumers who skip the scripted customer service in Bangalore and instead use the web to put their complaint in front of the people who matter...

Consumer advocates rejoice. Ralph

Posted on February 25, 2008
Consumer advocates rejoice. Ralph Nader is running for president. What’s a superdelegate to do? For a rundown of stories click here.

Payday lending, How much interest would Jesus charge?

Posted on February 22, 2008
Apparently the money changers are back in the temple. In a paper to be published this spring in the Catholic University Law Review, professors Christopher Peterson and Steven Graves find a surprising correlation between the geographic density of payday lenders and the political clout of conservative Christians...

Store charge cards will drag down your credit score

Posted on February 22, 2008
Nearly every store I walk into has a store charge card. Usually the store will offer 10-20% off of your purchase if you sign up for a card. Big deal. According to Bankrate.com, opening a store card account is an automatic 20-point hit to your credit score...

Beef recall, lack of inspectors leads to cutting corners

Posted on February 22, 2008
In another prime example of how the minute the government forgets that it is supposed to be acting for the benefit of we the people, and starts trusting that corporations will watch out for our best interests, we get the beef recall of 143 million pounds from a California meatpacker accused of sending lame [...

Payday lending: what would would Jesus charge?

Posted on February 22, 2008
Apparently the money changers are back in the temple. In a paper to be published this spring in the Catholic University Law Review, professors Christopher Peterson and Steven Graves find a surprising correlation between the geographic density of payday lenders and the political clout of conservative Christians...

The housing market mess; connecting some dots

Posted on February 21, 2008
It is getting time for a complete overhaul of the whole housing market in the US, rather than just messing with edges. Two different stories in the Minneapolis StarTribune this morning illustrate why. First is the story about all the people applying for Section 8 assistance...

Minnlawpedia, a user-generated repository of Minnesota law and procedure for the non-lawyer

Posted on February 20, 2008
The legal system and Web 2.0 still seem largely unaware of one another, although that is starting to change as lawyers and consumers make inreasing use of sites like Avvo, Facebook, Wikipediaand mypractice to find lawyers, to network, and to get information about the law...

The blogosphere is buzzing with

Posted on February 20, 2008
The blogosphere is buzzing with the news that President W signed the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007 into law today, prohibiting the removal of phone numbers from the National Do Not Call Registry. If you have not done so already, add your number to the National Do Not Call Registry.

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