US Class Action Attorneys for Protecting Consumers from Defective Products
Consumer protection laws exist to help regulate business transactions and practices for people who purchase products and services. State and federal laws are in place to provide a safeguard for a wide range of issues from advertising, sales, and business practices to banking and door-to-door sales transactions.
A Few Consumer Protection Laws that Protect You
These laws are also in place to give consumers specific protections. The Truth in Lending Act protects individual rights by requiring lenders to disclose to borrowers finance charges, interest rates, and the right of rescission on mortgage loans to name a few things. This act also helps to provide a standardized method for disclosures, which makes it easier for borrowers to understand the terms of the agreements.
The Fair Debt Collection Practice Act helps consumers by establishing standard practices that not only prohibit abusive collection activities but provide a method for resolving billing disputes. Among these practices is a requirement for the debt collector to advise the borrower the name and address of the original creditor and to tell the consumer of their right to dispute the bill.
Another consumer protection act, the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act, directed the Federal Trade Commission to create a central repository for all identity theft complaints and provide resources and education for people who have been victimized. The act also strengthened criminal laws that govern identity theft.
These and other consumer protection acts exist to safeguard individuals from deceptive and negligent acts. However, tougher laws and tighter regulations aren’t always enough to keep an individual from being victimized. When violations of consumer protection laws occur, the impact can be significant.
Here’s an Example
Think about a credit card company that fails to safeguard its borrower’s data which causes a security breach. Thousands of its customers become exposed to potential identity theft as thieves could use their personal information to defraud merchants by creating bogus credit and bank accounts. Many times identity theft isn’t discovered until someone suffers damages and is notified by a merchant, credit reporting agency, or financial institution.
When a breach of consumer protection law occurs, a class action is often the only reasonable means for consumers to seek fairness for widespread harm in the marketplace. Injuries to consumers from defective products, deceptive acts, and misleading statements are frequently unlawful but expensive to remedy through the legal system. A class action may be the most efficient way to enforce the rights of thousands of damaged customers.
Indianapolis Class Action Attorneys CohenMalad, LLP have brought class actions to protect the rights of consumers in cases involving deceptive sales and marketing practices, improper or excessive fees imposed by banks and other financial institutions, excessive cable television fees, and excessive or unauthorized telephone charges. We have also brought claims against homebuilders in Indiana for defective home construction, defective product claims against automobile manufacturers for unsafe vehicles or components, and claims to recover unlawful payments taken by an automobile dealership.
If you have suffered a loss and believe that your consumer rights have been violated, contact our Indianapolis office to talk with a class action attorney to discuss the situation. Call us at 317-636-6481 or contact via our website by filling out the information in the upper left-hand side of the screen and we will contact you as soon as possible.
