Consumer Law

Possible FCC Cell Phone Deal Chops Cancellation Fees, Axes Lawsuits

Cell phone service providers reportedly are negotiating with the Federal Communications Commission to reduce future cancellation fees for unhappy customers in exchange for the federal regulatory agency’s agreement to eliminate state authority to oversee the penalties. Although full details aren’t provided, it appears that the move would eliminate ongoing multimillion-dollar…

May 21, 2008 6:22 PM CDT

All Calls and E-Mails to be Stored in UK?

Updated: Officials in Great Britain are considering a possible plan to store all electronic communications—telephone calls, e-mails, text messages and Internet information—for up to a year in a massive government database, as a potential evidence trove in terrorism cases and other crimes. Phone calls and text messages are already kept:…

May 20, 2008 2:59 PM CDT

Prosecutor Explains Possible Case Against JuicyCampus

Only a few of Chelsea Gorman’s closest friends knew she had been raped one night as the freshman was walking back to Vanderbilt University. Yet, months after the attack, the attack became a topic of anonymous gossip—and vicious criticism of Gorman—on the JuicyCampus Internet site. The anonymous campus gossip site—which…

May 19, 2008 11:49 PM CDT

New Bankruptcy Rules Add to Consumer Woes, But Work Better for Corporations

No one foresaw the subprime mortgage meltdown when new consumer bankruptcy provisions were enacted that went into effect in the fall of 2005. And now the new rules are making the real estate situation worse than it otherwise would be, a federal judge said today at a conference in New…

May 12, 2008 10:45 PM CDT

Internet Wild West of Payday Lenders Needs Regulation

Now that many states have laws in place to try to prevent payday lenders from bankrupting consumers with short-term loans at extraordinarily high interest rates, it turns out that a number of payday lenders are a step ahead of the government regulators. They now offer such loans over the Internet,…

May 12, 2008 7:04 PM CDT

Will U.S. Credit Card Crackdown Make a Major Difference?

The mortgage meltdown, which many now attribute at least in part to widespread fraudulent practices, seems to have had an unexpected effect on federal regulators. Instead of waiting for a similar disaster to develop in the consumer credit market, they are proposing tough new rules to restrict some of the…

May 9, 2008 8:58 PM CDT

Congress May Urge Mortgage Principal Reductions for Struggling Homeowners

As housing price declines steepen and mortgage default rates rise, Congress is considering legislation to give struggling homeowners an alternative to foreclosure in what many are calling the worst real estate market in a quarter century. Under a proposal by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass, the Federal Housing Administration would be…

May 6, 2008 4:54 PM CDT

Lenders Freeze Home Equity Lines, Avoiding Possible Chapter 13 Cuts

Instead of providing the expected financial cushion in tough economic times, home equity lines are disappearing just when some owners—including attorneys—were relying on being able to use them. Jerry Tao, a part-time lawyer in Las Vegas, is in better shape than most—he made more than $500,000 last year, and never…

May 6, 2008 4:14 PM CDT

House Leader Seeks Probe of Plaintiffs Firms’ Class Action Kickbacks

Updated: The Republican leader of the U.S. House of Representatives is asking the House Judiciary Committee to launch an investigation into whether it is common practice, as a convicted attorney has claimed, for plaintiffs firms to pay kickbacks to lead plaintiffs in class actions. Rep. John Boehner expects to send…

May 2, 2008 6:15 PM CDT

A Step Up in Class

Plaintiffs lawyers adapt to class action law—and hunt for congenial circuits

May 1, 2008 1:00 PM CDT

Wachovia to Pay $144M re Claims Bank Didn’t Safeguard Customer Accounts

In a case that has resulted in stricter regulatory standards for all national banks, one of the country’s biggest financial institutions has agreed to settle for $144 million a federal regulator’s claims that it didn’t do enough to prevent account holders from abusive practices by telemarketers who were also its…

Apr 25, 2008 5:24 PM CDT

Credit Card Cos. Can Be Sued for Forcing Arbitration, 2nd Circuit Says

Updated: A class action by credit card holders over mandatory arbitration provisions imposed by credit card issuers can proceed to trial, a federal appeals court has ruled. The New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision today overturns a district court ruling that the cardholders did not have…

Apr 25, 2008 4:15 PM CDT

‘Bad Dads’: New Fox Reality TV Program Collects Child Support

Forget about watching cops place the cuffs on badly behaved adults after breaking up fights and catching them with illegal narcotics. The truly compelling law enforcement reality program may be watching an expert child support enforcer confront deadbeat dads. Viewers will soon have a chance to find out for themselves:…

Apr 24, 2008 9:37 PM CDT

Now Outsourced to India: Debt Collection

Americans aren’t the only ones eagerly awaiting the Internal Revenue Service tax rebates expected to be in the mail to many U.S. residents by the end of May. A growing number of Indians working on the other side of the world as debt collectors are also focusing in on our…

Apr 23, 2008 10:44 PM CDT

FCC Chair Says Net is Neutral Enough; No New Legislation Needed

Concerns about potential interference by major Internet service providers with free and equal access by all Web surfers aren’t severe enough to require legislation at this time, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission told the Senate Commerce Committee yesterday. But such concerns are nonetheless heating up, the Associated Press…

Apr 23, 2008 10:17 PM CDT