Sometimes people fall behind in paying their bills. When the debts go unpaid, creditors seek recovery of the debt . . . plus interest. It is not pleasant. Although debts are required to be repaid, and debt collectors may legally attempt to recover the debt, there are limits to the behavior of...
Blog
Cheyenne Couple Sue Over Alleged Theft of Money from Home Sale
I just learned that one of my cases was in the news. It was a surprise to me as the reporter never contacted me for comment. Here is the story: A pair of Cheyenne residents have filed a lawsuit against a title company and a real estate agency for alleged negligence and breach of contract af...
Two Years of consumer law blogs
Interesting Statistics: I started writing about consumer law issues on this website two years ago. I posted an interesting summary last year. I thought it would be interesting to update that with a new annual review. Here are some interesting numbers from the past year for my website and blog: ...
Don't let yourself be pressured into a roofing contract
Be careful about your roofing contract This time of year sees frequent hail storms in northern Colorado and Wyoming. Already this year, there was a significant hail storm on May 23rd, and then again on June 18th and 19th. Hail storms often cause damage to roofs. In the wake of any significant h...
Foreclosure Prevention - If it seems too good to be true . . .
The Federal Trade Commission recently banned an individual from engaging in any debt relief businesses. The individual had been involved in a mortgage relief scheme. The scheme promised homeowners a way out of foreclosure and more affordable mortgage payments. The scheme would charge $3,900 in ad...
Why Harmony Law does not use Facebook
Why Harmony Law does not use Facebook There was a time when Facebook seemed like a viable method for reaching the public. It came to pass that Facebook started aggressively censoring content on its platform. This is unacceptable in a free society. It is contrary to the highest principals of Western Civilization. Facebook has essentially turned into the enemy of free people everywhere.
FTC's evolving description of "clearly and conspicuously"
Clear and Conspicuous Disclosure I have addressed what constitutes clear and conspicuous disclosure on this site before. It is an important concept for advertisers and marketers to understand. The FTC recently entered an order against a company with regard to misleading claims about the anti-agi...
FTC addresses alleged deceptive advertising by Telomerase Activation Sciences
As I have pointed about several times before, manufacturers and retailers need evidence to back up product advertising claims. If a company lacks the evidence to support its claims, it is vulnerable to an investigation and enforcement action by the FTC. The recent FTC case involving Telomerase Ac...
Fraud Report in Wyoming
Fraud in Wyoming The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its annual report on consumer complaints. The 2017 report provides some interesting perspectives on fraud in Wyoming. Here are some highlights from the report: Identity theft and imposter scams tied for the highest proportion of re...
Fraud Report in Colorado
Fraud in Colorado The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its annual report on consumer complaints. The 2017 report provides some interesting perspectives on fraud in Colorado. Here are some highlights from the report: Identity theft and imposter scams tied for the highest proportion of re...
Should I buy trip insurance?
Should I buy trip insurance? Vacations are great. But they are also expensive. American Express did a study in 2013 that showed that the average per person cost of a vacation amounts to $1,145. For a family of four, that amounts to $4,580. And the cost has probably risen since that study was p...
Wyoming considers an elected Attorney General in the new session
Wyoming is considering a new law that would provide for an elected Attorney General Currently, Wyoming is one of the few states where the Attorney General is not elected. Most states, including Colorado, elect their state Attorney General in the general election. All that may change if Senate Fi...
What is mediation?
What is mediation? When someone becomes involved in a civil lawsuit, they often hear their attorney start talking about mediation. Mediation arises in almost every civil case. Yet, mediation is not always understood by the parties, and can sometimes even be confused with arbitration. I hope to e...
What is arbitration?
What is arbitration? Arbitration is becoming more and more prevalent in American society. If you are like most Americans, I bet that you are party to at least half a dozen arbitration agreements.
Preparing for Civil Litigation
After a decade and a half of legal practice, I have some interesting observations about the impact of civil litigation on the parties. From these observations, I have some recommendations to litigants on how to better handle litigation. Dont take it personally Approximately half of the people ...
Colorado company settles with Iowa Attorney General
As I reported earlier this year, the Iowa Attorney General filed a complaint against Osmosis, a Colorado-based maker of drinkable sunscreen. According to the Iowa Attorney Generals allegations, the company made claims that its water had been treated with a device that changes the electrical en...
What to do about unwanted marketing calls or robocalls?
What to do about unwanted marketing calls or robocalls? Americans are constantly harassed by telephone marketing calls, debt collection calls and other unwanted telephone calls. These unwanted calls led to passage of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in 1991. At the time, Senator Holl...
What to do about the Equifax Data Breach?
There is a good chance that your most sensitive data was stolen from Equifax. 143 million people had their data accessed by hackers. You can check to see if your data was accessed. The breach occurred sometime in the May to July, 2017 time frame. It seems that Equifax will not send you a written ...
Consumers tricked into paying 2,000% more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing a marketing scheme that tricked consumers into spending 2,000 percent of what they thought they had agreed to pay. In its complaint, the FTC alleges that a group of According to the FTC, the defendants used a network of 78 companies, at least 87 w...
One year of consumer law blogs
I started writing about consumer law issues on this website a year ago.
Substantiation goes for all products, including paint
I have written about the FTC's substantiation requirements with respect to supplements. The nature of supplements lends itself to exaggerated and false claims about their effectiveness. However, the substantiation requirements apply to other types of products too as seen by the FTC's recent actio...
Wyoming adopts law reining in freewheeling roof repair outfits
Wyoming adopts law reining in freewheeling roof repair operations Hail storms are a recurring summer event in Wyoming. Millions of dollars in damage is inflicted on hundreds of homes in Wyoming every year. This leads to a large number of contractors and related individuals offering roof repair s...
CenturyLink's alleged lack of integrity leads to several lawsuits
CenturyLink's alleged lack of integrity leads to several lawsuits CenturyLink faces two class action lawsuits related to allegations of ripping off customers just a few days after being sued by a former employee for wrongful termination for complaining to her superiors that the company forced em...
The FTC obtains $280 million judgment against Dish Network for telemarketing violations
The FTC obtains $280 million judgment against Dish Network for telemarketing violations As the result of Do Not Call (DNC) litigation brought by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission, as well as the states of California, Illinois, North Carolina, and Ohio, a fe...
What do you do when there is an error on your credit report?
What do you do when there is an error on your credit report? An FTC study showed that five percent of Americans had errors on their credit reports that could lead to them paying more for loans. This statistic seems accurate to me as many consumers call my office asking for advice on how to remov...