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Category Archives: Consumer Law Basics

What Can I Do If My Landlord Does Not Return My Security Deposit?

Published on August 21, 2009 by Kathleen Munden

One of the unfortunate trends of these difficult financial times is the increase in landlords failing to return security deposits to renters. Although rental deposits are supposed to be held in trust for tenants, many landlords are finding themselves in financial difficulties and are dipping into those funds, and are then unable to refund [...]

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How Can I Rebuild My Credit After Bankruptcy?

Published on August 19, 2009 by Kathleen Munden

Having a bankruptcy filing on your credit report is obviously not a positive event. The bankruptcy notation stays on your credit report for 10 years, and does have the effect of lowering your credit score. However, there are steps you can take to minimize the negative effect of the bankruptcy notation, and rebuild your credit [...]

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What Will the New Credit Card Legislation Do For You?

Published on July 28, 2009 by Kathleen Munden

On May 22, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act. As noted in our blog article on July 28, 2009, certain provisions of that act go into effect in 2010 concerning the disclosures that must be made on credit card statements. Other provisions that regulate how credit [...]

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Credit Card Reform Provisions Go Into Effect In 2010

Published on July 27, 2009 by Kathleen Munden

Although sweeping new regulations affecting credit card issuers were signed into law in May 2009, those provisions do not go into effect until 2010. One change that takes effect in February 2010 is the requirement that credit card statements spell out how long it will take to pay off the bill if only minimum [...]

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Arbitration Abuses ‘Deeply Disturbing,’ Kucinich Says

Published on July 23, 2009 by Robert A. Kraft

Bloomberg News reported, “A congressional staff investigation into the biggest U.S. consumer debt-collection arbitrator found ‘deeply disturbing’ abuses, U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich said” yesterday at a hearing before a House subcommittee he chairs. “A report on the investigation, released yesterday, claims that the National Arbitration Forum, a Minnesota company that handled most consumer debt-collection arbitrations [...]

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Credit Card Companies Racing To Increase Profits Before Reform Legislation Becomes Law

Published on July 19, 2009 by Kathleen Munden

Even though Congress passed sweeping credit card reform legislation this month, it does not go into effect for almost a year. That gives credit card companies plenty of time to devise new methods for squeezing profits out of consumers while they still have free rein.
For instance, JP Morgan Chase recently raised minimum payments on many [...]

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Texas Attorney General Website Offers Valuable Consumer Information

Published on July 14, 2009 by Kathleen Munden

The Attorney General is the official in the State of Texas who is responsible for protecting consumers and businesses by enforcing the Deceptive Trade Practices Act and other consumer and business protection legislation. The website of the Office of the Attorney General contains a wealth of information for consumers, along with complaint forms, hotline numbers, [...]

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FHA Loans More Accessible Than Most People Realize

Published on July 12, 2009 by Kathleen Munden

Although lending standards have become more strict during the economic crisis, the FHA loan program has remained relatively unchanged, and continues to be the most popular mortgage program in America.
Many people falsely believe that FHA loans are available only for first-time buyers or those with perfect credit. Both of those misconceptions are untrue. FHA loans [...]

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Home Values In North Texas Back To 1990 Levels

Published on July 9, 2009 by Kathleen Munden

According to a study released recently by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, falling home prices have wiped out billions of dollars in residential property values in North Texas. Overall, home prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have slipped to 1990s levels, when adjusted for inflation.
The Harvard researchers [...]

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Help For Paying Off Student Loans More Affordably

Published on July 7, 2009 by Kathleen Munden

A new option in the form of an income-based repayment plan may offer help to consumers who are struggling to maintain student loan payments. The plan is not available to everyone, but is intended to cap the payments of those eligible at an amount intended to be affordable based on income, family size, and state [...]

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Banks Vow to Fight Consumer Protection Agency

Published on July 6, 2009 by Kathleen Munden

Banking lobbyists are already working to curb or eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Agency proposed by President Obama. The Agency could be empowered to curtail or ban a host of lucrative bank practices, such as ballooning mortgages, excessive credit card interest, and surprise overdraft fees.
The Associated Press reports that the Obama administration believes such safeguards [...]

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Five Things To Know Before Applying For a Secured Credit Card

Published on July 1, 2009 by Kathleen Munden

Consumers whose credit scores have been devastated by bankruptcy, divorce, or job loss often turn to secured credit cards in an effort to rebuild their credit. While this can be an effective method for increasing your credit score, not all secured cards are created equal, and you must make sure you are getting the best [...]

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Dallas Ranks Eighth In Vehicle Dumping and Insurance Scams

Published on June 25, 2009 by Kathleen Munden

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Texas is second in the nation for potential “owner give-up” cases, with 353 between January 2004 and March 2009. “Owner give-up” is the insurance fraud scam where drivers abandon or destroy their cars, then report them stolen to collect insurance money.
During the first quarter of 2009, owner give-ups [...]

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North Texas Foreclosures Decrease for June’s Auction

Published on June 22, 2009 by Kathleen Munden

According to a spokesman for Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service, foreclosures scheduled for June 2009 in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, and Denton Counties have decreased by 10% from the figures for May. However, even those rates are up from the same period in 2008 by 40% in Tarrant County, 39% in Collin County, 25% in Dallas County, [...]

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Prime Loan Foreclosure Rates Rising

Published on June 21, 2009 by Kathleen Munden

Among all the publicity about the rash of sub-prime loans that are being foreclosed, prime loans – those held by homeowners with once-solid credit ratings – are increasingly facing the same fate.
Many economists expect the current 8.9% unemployment rate to rise into the double digits, and foreclosures of all types of mortgages are likely to [...]

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Loan Modification Scams On The Increase

Published on June 15, 2009 by Kathleen Munden

As more and more homeowners face the threat of foreclosure, scam artists are moving into the loan modification arena. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates nationally chartered banks, is warning consumers to beware of such crooks.
“They may tell consumers to stop paying their mortgages while the con artist works out a [...]

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Credit Repair – Do It Yourself and Avoid Being Scammed

Published on June 14, 2009 by Kathleen Munden

Despite all the advertising by companies who promise to “erase your bad debt” or remove bankruptcies, judgments, liens, and bad loans from your credit file, the attorneys at the Federal Trade Commission say that they have never seen a legitimate credit repair operation making those claims. There is no quick fix for creditworthiness, although you [...]

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The Most Expensive Phones In America

Published on June 1, 2009 by Kathleen Munden

It may be hard to believe, but there are still millions of Americans who are being charged for “leasing” a telephone from what was formerly AT&T. When AT&T was broken up in the mid-1980s, customers were given until the end of 1987 to opt out of their telephone leases and buy their phones. Those who [...]

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