Consumer Law

How One Borrower Escaped ‘Foreclosure Hell’ Without Being Burned

Retiree Mamie Ruth Palmer filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and has been battling her mortgage lender ever since. Now she has agreed to a settlement that allows her to remain in her home and pay the fees of the lawyer who helped her. “In some mortgage circles, Ms. Palmer, a…

Jul 28, 2008 11:22 AM CDT

Workplace Smoking Law Bans Cigarettes in Personal Van

A self-employed painter and decorator in Wales has been given an expensive ticket for violating a law against smoking in the workplace–in this case, his own unmarked van. Because the £30 (approximately $60) ticket from the Ceredigion council doubles if it isn’t paid in a fairly short time, the offender’s…

Jul 25, 2008 6:14 PM CDT

L.A. Moves Closer to Limiting New Fast-Food Restaurants

Los Angeles has moved a step closer to banning new fast-food restaurants for at least a year in a significant swath of the city. A city council committee last night unanimously approved a measure calling for at least a one-year moratorium on new fast-food franchises in a 32-square-mile area including…

Jul 23, 2008 6:47 PM CDT

Lender CEO OK’d Judge’s Refi While Class Action Was Pending, Magazine Says

When a California appeals court judge sought a $1 million mortgage and a $900,000 credit line to refinance his 8,200-square-foot home in January 2004, a loan officer for Countrywide Financial determined that the credit line was “above what guidelines allow.” But the mortgage lender’s chief executive, Angelo Mozilo was the…

Jul 22, 2008 5:57 PM CDT

Anatomy of a Bankruptcy: Too Much Credit, High Fees, Bad Breaks

Back when she was working a couple of jobs and sharing her home with an adult son, Diane McLeod seemed to have the money to pay her credit card bills and the relatively lavish lifestyle they helped fund along with the mortgage for her modest home in the Philadelphia suburbs.…

Jul 21, 2008 10:02 PM CDT

1000s of Criminals Worked in Florida Mortgage Industry

To work as a mortgage broker in Florida, an individual has to be licensed. But no licensing requirement applies to mortgage originators. As a result, tens of thousands of individuals helping Florida homeowners get mortgages haven’t been licensed–among them, 5,306 loan originators with criminal histories, reports the Miami Herald in…

Jul 21, 2008 6:28 PM CDT

Plea Deal in Purloined Pooch Case: $300 Fine & 48 Hours Community Work

In the final salvo in a bizarre case of puppy love in a small Texas town, a former mayor pleaded no contest yesterday to a misdemeanor count of filing a false police report. Grace Saenz-Lopez was sentenced to a $300 fine and 48 hours of community service, reports the Corpus…

Jul 16, 2008 10:23 PM CDT

Law Partners Kimmel & Silverman are Still Happily Married

News of the failed romance of late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel and comedienne Sarah Silverman had an unexpected effect on a Northeastern automotive lemon law firm. Seeing headlines about the breakup of Kimmel and Silverman, clients began calling Kimmel & Silverman, the law firm, thinking that it was…

Jul 16, 2008 4:04 PM CDT

Divorce Deli Offers Menu of Marriage Dissolution Options

Rather than fighting a trend toward more individual involvement in their own legal matters, a Florida matrimonial lawyer is joining it. For those seeking an end to their marriages on a low-budget basis, Steven Miller of Plantation offers an a la carte menu of legal services and self-help options on…

Jul 10, 2008 5:26 PM CDT

Foreclosure Crisis Worst Since 1930s Great Depression

As mortgage foreclosure filings in June rose 53 percent from the previous year’s figure, and bank seizures of such homes rose 171 percent, experts say the U.S. is in its worst housing crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Almost one in every 500 U.S. homes is directly affected…

Jul 10, 2008 4:16 PM CDT

Web Companies Seek New Federal Privacy Law for Internet Ads

Existing privacy laws concerning Internet advertising are in good shape, a Federal Trade Commission official said in a hearing today before the Senate Commerce Committee, and any gaps can be filled by industry self-regulation. But big Internet companies are seeking a uniform federal law to replace a patchwork of state…

Jul 9, 2008 7:53 PM CDT

Prepaid Legal Services in Fla. a 1st Step in FSBO Co.‘s National Plan

A real estate listing service that focuses on for-sale-by-owner properties is now offering to home sellers what it says is a nationwide first—an opportunity to purchase prepaid legal services for their real estate deals at below-market prices. While the legal services, which are being provided by Spira, Beadle & McGarrell,…

Jul 8, 2008 5:25 PM CDT

Termite Lawyer Bugged By Job But Likes the Independence

The life of a termite lawyer isn’t an easy one, particularly when he is new to the job, Pete Cardillo says. And the 50-year-old Columbia Law School graduate should know. Perhaps the only attorney in the nation who practices full-time suing pest control companies over allegedly breached contracts to keep…

Jul 8, 2008 3:40 PM CDT

N.M. Supreme Court Is Fifth to Strike Down Class Action Waiver

State supreme courts are increasingly striking down mandatory arbitration agreements that bar class action lawsuits. The latest state court to act is New Mexico’s, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.). It ruled last week that a class action ban was unconscionable because it “essentially foreclosed” relief in a case…

Jul 3, 2008 10:52 AM CDT

More eBay Suits Expected Over Sales of Fake Luxury Goods

Lawyers representing eBay are likely to be busy with additional lawsuits over sales of fake luxury goods after a $63 million ruling by a French court this week holding the Internet auctioneer liable for online sales conducted by users of its site. “I expect this ruling to encourage a number…

Jul 1, 2008 10:18 PM CDT