“You mean I can tell my landlord to call my lawyer? Cool.”

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 not only in his apartment, but in the common areas, as well. At one point, the tenant upstairs even ran an extension cord from the common area to her own apartment so she could mooch electricity. Finally fed up, the potential client called Xcel Energy and asked about his situation. Xcel came out and did what they should have: they sent the bill to the landlord and too the potential client’s name off the utility bills. But then the landlord tried to bill him for the amount of the bill, anyway!

I agreed to take the case, and as usual, the potential client started to get nervous, expecting me to tell him what I would charge. When I informed him I would represent him on contingency–that, after all, is the reason consumer protection statutes include attorney fees–he lit up like a lightbulb. It finally sunk in that someone was actually going to go to bat for him, instead of at him. I love my job.

So few consumers who get screwed can afford to hire a lawyer. That is why consumer protection statutes usually allow a consumer to recover attorney fees. Unfortunately, there still are not a lot of consumer lawyers out there. To find them, browse on over to NACA.net, the home of the National Association of Consumer Advocates. In addition to good information for consumers, the NACA site has a database of its members nationwide. If you have been screwed and you need to talk to a lawyer, that’s probably the best place to start looking for one.