Archive for February, 2007

Well whaddyaknow, Norm Coleman responded to my e-mail about net neutrality. I’m sure it’s a form, but here it is:

Dear Mr. Glover:
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts regarding net neutrality. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.
As a member of the Republican High-Tech Task force, I have been [...]

I can’t say it any better than this video does:

1. Sign the petition
2. Call your legislators
3. Share the message

Wiccans are gathering today at the State Capitol to fight for the right of soldiers to display a pentacle on their headstone. The pentacle is currently not on the list. Pagans have been fighting with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs over this issue because families of soldiers who have died in combat have been unable [...]

Gizmodo is leading the charge to boycott the RIAA during the month of March. Do it. Don’t buy albums from RIAA artists. See them live, if you must. Even better, spend March discovering local and independent artists. Buy music from independent artists. Download Creative Commons-licensed music and tracks in the public domain.
This is NOT a [...]

Last night I went to a special screening of Maxed Out hosted by Minnesota ACORN and Americans For Fairness in Lending, a new consumer advocacy organization. Maxed Out is a documentary about the credit industry, including debt collection, check cashing, payday lending, bankruptcy, and more. The creator attended and answered questions from the audience, which [...]

Credit counseling is, quite frankly, someone you can do on your own. But this is true of a lot of things in life. JLP over at AllFinancial Matters recommends seeking out a credit counselor in the following situations (via The Consumers’ Guide to Credit Counseling by Liz Pulliam Weston):

You can’t pay the minimums on your [...]

Ben Popken, editor-in-chief of The Consumerist, invited me to be a guest blogger today. Keep an eye out for my posts today (and possibly tomorrow, if Ben’s “vacation” goes long).

Clean Up Your Tenant History With The FCRA
How To Deal With Crooked Loan Officers
Today Only: Ask A Consumer Lawyer
IANYL, Round One
How Important Are Consumer Issues For [...]

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Phillip Morris USA v. Williams (PDF link), deciding that “[a] punitive damages award based in part on a juryÂ’s desire to punish a defendant for harming nonparties amounts to a taking of property from the defendant without due process.”
The key word in that sentence is [...]

I was a few days late to catch this one. Like MNpublius, I don’t follow Washington County politics. However, Washington County Commissioner Bill Pulkrabek recently made it onto my radar with these amazing comments:

“I think the homeless problem in Washington County is grossly overstated . . . ”
“Basically, they’re jackasses . . . ”

Mr. Pulkrabek [...]

You can almost smell the chads hanging in the air as candidates start to declare their intentions for the 2008 elections. But few are expected to put their views on consumer issues at the forefront of their campaign platform. And consumer-friendliness is rarely the exclusive province of one party or the other. After all, Republican [...]

Experian announced a new service today that notifies creditors “when a debtor’s ability to pay appears to be improving.” It also provides updated address information and “[m]onitoring of public record, civil action, tradeline and demographic events to help prioritize and segment collection strategies.” I think that means Experian will happily monitor the personal lives of [...]

In Hodges v. Feinstein, Raiss, Kelin & Booker LLC, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that lawyers who regularly file eviction proceedings are debt collectors who are subject to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Although the remedy in an eviction proceeding is eviction, not money, the court decided that eviction is, in reality, a [...]

When an apartment shares a utility meter with another apartment or a common area, it can cause a lot of problems. For example, the tenant in Apartment 1 may get the bill, but what if the tenant in Apartment 2 uses more gas or electricity? Shouldn’t the paying tenant have some recourse? Or what if [...]

I was listening to MPR this morning–that’s Minnesota Public Radio for you non-Minnesotans–when Cathy Wurzer made the above comment. I laughed out lout and spilled my tea.
Banks are surprised that their loose lending and nonexistent oversight of brokers has led to a high default rate? I mean, who would have thought that if you don’t [...]

If you don’t already know it, DRM means “digital rights management,” and DRM is the software that prevents you from using digital music you purchase online from stores like iTunes on other media players, or in other ways.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs recently wrote a piece on why DRM is D-U-M-B. His essay is worth reading, [...]

With home prices falling–or at least slowing down–real estate appraisers are facing greater pressure to overstate home values. The pressures come from all sides, but this is not really new. The pressure may be great now, but it has always been there. The greater the home price, the higher commissions will be, the more interest [...]

February 4-10 is officially National Consumer Protection Week, by proclamation of President George W. Bush. Kudos to Dubya for this one.
During National Consumer Protection Week, citizens are urged to learn more about the risks of fraud and identity theft and take precautions to protect themselves from these crimes.
So do it! That is what this website [...]

Those addicted to alcohol and other drugs end up in sober houses for a variety of reasons. Some are there by court order. Others have nowhere else to go, having been kicked out of their “normal” apartments. Still others are completing their treatment, encouraged to move into the sober house after completing an inpatient treatment [...]

It’s been a busy few days. I’ve been helping consumers in the legal trenches rather than by offering information and pontification online. I wanted to relate a short anecdote because being involved in it warmed my heart.
Yesterday, I met with a potential client whose landlord has been charging the client for electricity and gas used [...]