By: Jeffrey Lapin At least since October 2012, American Express (“AMEX”) has changed its Cardmember Agreement to permit it to select binding arbitration for consumer disputes. Before this change, cardmembers could select either arbitration or a trial by jury. Now, unless a cardholder opts-out, AMEX can require arbitration.
By: Jeffrey Lapin As the holiday season is upon us consumers are decorating and buying gifts for family and friends. At the same time, scammers are preparing their holiday scams to “deck their halls” with your money, privacy or identity. Below are 12 common holiday scams as well as ways to make sure the scammers, and not
By: Jeffrey Lapin The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regulates consumer financial products and services, such as mortgages and credit cards. Here are some of the more noteworthy actions and announcements by the CFPB from November 2012:
By: Jeffey B. Lapin The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) along with other federal agencies announced on October 1, 2012, that American Express Co. (AMEX) will pay $112.5 million in refunds and fines. These agencies alleged that three AMEX subsidiaries violated a number of federal laws with regard to credit cards, credit reporting and debt
By: Jeffrey B. Lapin The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has now been in existence for fourteen (14) months. It was created as part of the 2010 Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. So far, the CFPB has been praised by consumer advocates and criticized by businesses.
By: Jeffrey Lapin The Consumer Federation of America (CFA), with assistance from the North American Consumer Protection Investigators (NACPI), has issued its 2011 Consumer Complaint Survey Report, which, among other things, lists the top 10, actually 12, consumer complaints from 2011. In addition, the Report identifies the fastest growing complaints, worst complaints, and newer types of consumer problems.
By: Jeffrey Lapin Lapin Law Offices has updated its website (lapinlawoffices.com) to include definitions of some commonly used consumer protection and other financial words and phrases. It includes words and phrases involving the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
By: Jeffrey Lapin The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) launched a Consumer Complaint Database that will provide basic information about complaints made against credit card companies. This is the first time this type of data is available to the public without the filing of a Freedom of Information request. The Database is located on the
By: Jeffrey Lapin Dealing with the death of a relative is hard enough. Family members do not need the additional stress of having to deal with having the identity of their deceased relative stolen. Remember, family members are not responsible for the debts of their deceased relatives, unless they had specifically agreed to be. In
By: Jeffrey Lapin Collecting on debts of the deceased has become a very profitable area in the debt collections industry. Using tactics and practices created specifically to convince anguished family members to pay, some of these debt collectors will stop at nothing to get money even breaking the law. In almost all circumstances you are