Walk It Through: The Bad Deal
A car repair sold on a false promise, a gift card that shrank, and a payday loan rolled over.
A shop advertises a lifetime warranty on brakes, then refuses to honor it, saying the fine print was never given out.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
Three purchases gone wrong. Class actions, the Attorney General's enforcement, auto title loans, credit card disputes and warranties under federal law are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Willful violationUnder the Unfair Trade Practices Act, a violation where the business knew or should have known its conduct was unlawful. It triples the actual damages.
- Deferred presentmentA licensed lender holding a customer's check for up to thirty-one days in return for cash now, for a fee of no more than fifteen percent of the principal.
- Security/rental depositProperty or money a landlord holds as security, returned at the end of the tenancy less accrued rent and damages from the tenant's failure to keep up the unit, with any deduction itemized in writing.