A federal appeals court threw out the FTC’s rule against car dealer junk fees on procedural grounds. Not one line of that decision says those fees are legal in New York or anywhere else. Picture a buyer who sees one price on a dealer’s website, then finds a higher total waiting in the finance office, […]
For decades, one word decided whether New York’s main consumer protection law could help you: deceptive. If a business lied to you or misled you, General Business Law § 349 applied. If it simply treated you unfairly, with every word on the page technically true, the statute usually had nothing to say. Since February 17, […]
Your new car has been back to the dealership four times for the same transmission problem, and the service manager just told you there is nothing more they can do. Filing a lawsuit does not feel like the next logical step, but you should not have to accept a defective vehicle either. New York gives […]
You close on a house in Brooklyn or a colonial out in Westchester County, move the boxes in, and a few weeks later pull up a stained section of basement carpet and find mold climbing the wall behind it, or a foundation crack someone clearly patched and painted over before your walkthrough. New York follows […]
The letter usually arrives weeks after the damage is done. A company you trusted with your Social Security number, your bank account, or your medical history writes to say someone accessed your information without permission. Whether you live in Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Westchester County, that letter exists because of the SHIELD Act, the New York […]
The discovery usually happens at a body shop. The car went in for something minor, and the technician spotted paint overspray on the weatherstripping, weld marks on the frame rails, and an airbag light disabled rather than repaired. The “clean, one-owner” vehicle you bought from a dealership in Queens or Charleston had been wrecked before […]
You open the mailbox or a stranger hands you a stack of papers, and find a summons demanding payment on a debt you don’t recognize. Maybe the amount looks wrong, the creditor is a company you’ve never dealt with, or the account is so old you can’t place it. In West Virginia, most consumer debt […]
A collection agency calls about a credit card balance you stopped paying years ago and offers a deal: send a small “good-faith” payment to show you are cooperating, and they will work with you on the rest. Be careful. You may have heard that paying even a few dollars can “wake up” an old debt […]
You found the car, negotiated what felt like a fair number, and signed a stack of paperwork at a dealership somewhere in Manhattan. Driving away, a quiet doubt sets in. Was that the price on the windshield? Did the monthly payment climb once financing came up? New York City buyers have more protection in that […]
You hired someone to remodel your kitchen or replace your roof, wrote a check for the deposit, and then the calls stopped. The contractor stopped showing up, stopped answering texts, and left you with a torn-up house and a lighter bank account. It is one of the most common consumer problems in the country — […]
