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Consumer Law - Legal Information and Resources

Consumer Law

The United States is a consumerist society. The American economy is made vibrant by the number of options the public has when it comes to goods and services. It is, however, not uncommon for seller of goods and services to resort to certain practices, which range from simple misleading to downright fraud, in order to attract buyers. With the increasing number of retailers and service providers turning to the online platform for business, cases of abusive business practices also increased. The U.S. Congress, by virtue of its constitutional mandate to regulate interstate commerce, created the Bureau of Consumer Protection to protect the public from these abusive business practices. In accordance with federal legislation, states create enforcement agencies for the public to lodge their consumer rights complaints. Consumers also have the option of suing the seller.

One of the foremost consumer rights law is the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Not a few years ago, the United States experienced a financial crisis that was a result of risky "subprime" lending. Under this type of lending, banks loaned to people with poor or zero credit histories, which made it difficult for them to pay their loans. As a result, many homes were foreclosed and the court dockets were flooded with consumer bankruptcies. Under the FDCPA, banks and lending institutions are prohibited from using harassment to collect unpaid balances. The two other leading consumer rights law are the Home Ownership and Equal Protect Act and the Trust in Lending Act, which prohibit predatory lending practices by imposing exorbitant interest rates, hiding fees and penalties, and applying payments to low-interest portions of a loan balance. Consumer rights law also include protection by buyers from false advertising, warranty misrepresentation, defective products, forced arbitration clauses, identity theft, and telemarketing fraud.

One of the tricks that sellers employ is hiding abusive terms and conditions in the fine print of agreements. When it comes to borrowing money, it is best to seek the help of a consumer rights law attorney during the processing of such loan so that the fine print of the credit agreement can be reviewed and the attorney can assess whether the agreements are abusive or not. Consumers, however, are not very keen in hiring consumer law attorneys when they purchase certain products as they involve only a small amount and employing an attorney would be more expensive than the price of their product. When faced with a possible violation of consumer rights law, consumers group together to pressure the seller to compensate them.

Violation of consumer rights law is the subject of numerous individual and class action lawsuits in the country. Similarly situated individuals are likely to group together and go after a seller or many sellers as the economic damages in individual consumer rights suit is relatively low. With a class action, the group can push for higher economic damages due to the number of members in the class. The costs of filing a suit against a seller cannot be recouped when individuals would separately file suits. When opting to join a class suit, it is best to hire a consumer rights attorney to fight for the rights of the consumers as a group and to fight for the rights of the consumer as an individual.

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Truck Accident Law - Legal Information and Resources

Truck Accident

Truck accidents, like motor vehicle accidents, cause numerous personal injuries and deaths each year in the United States. While not as common as car accidents, truck accidents bring greater damages due to their size and weight. Trucks defined as commercial freight trucks, commonly known as 18-wheelers. Federal laws govern the trucking industry as they are part-and-parcel of interstate commerce. The federal government establishes the manufacturing standards of commercial and heavy trucks and regulates the use and operation of these trucks. States also have their own laws and regulations relating to trucks and truck accidents.

Truck accident law ensures that personal injuries sustained by occupants of a passenger vehicle as a result of a collision with an 18-wheeler is adequately compensated. Like all personal injury cases, the foremost consideration when determining liability in truck accidents is negligence. The most common party who is negligent would be the truck driver, and because truck drivers are professional drivers, multiple sources of law will apply. The truck driver, however, may not be the only party who acted negligently. Proving negligence on the part of other possible responsible parties may not be as easy as proving negligence on the part of the truck driver.

Truck accidents differ from motor vehicle accidents because the determination of who is at fault is more complicated. Because of the commercial nature of trucks, there are many parties that could be possibly liable for the damage or the death. Responsible parties could also include the truck's owner, lessee, or manufacturer. The truck's shipper or loader, when the cargo is not properly loaded, could also be responsible, while the truck's mechanics could also be responsible when it failed to check the condition of the truck prior to travel. The party responsible for the damages could be one party or all of the parties mentioned above. In addition to these responsible parties, insurance companies can also be liable for the damages as most businesses are required to get insurance coverage for these types of risks. The bulk of litigation arising from truck accidents would be the determination of who is liable, as these parties would naturally try to avoid paying damages and blame another party for the cause of the accident. When a plaintiff files a personal injury lawsuit arising from a truck accident, the plaintiff must identify all possible responsible parties because there is a statute of limitations for all personal injury claims. It is better to name all possible responsible parties at the filing of the lawsuit than add the parties after as the statute of limitations may have already ran out.

A typical truck accident litigation in the past would have the trucking company arguing against liability by pointing out that it does not own the truck and it does not employ the driver. Current federal laws, however, now state that any trucking company is responsible for all accidents involving a truck that has its name displayed on the vehicle. This means that the trucking company is liable even if the truck is leased from another company and the driver is an independent contractor.

Aside from proving liability, the plaintiff must show the extent of his damages by engaging expert witnesses such as a physician to assess the physical damage and an economist to assess damages arising from loss of income and earning capacity. On top of these experts, the plaintiff must also engage the expertise of a truck accident law attorney to skillfully navigate the complicated litigation against those who might also be responsible.

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