Consumer law is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the area of law dealing with consumer transactions - that is, a person's obtaining credit, goods, real property, or services for personal, family, or household purposes.
A consumer is a person who buys goods or services for personal, family or household use, with no intention of resale; a natural person who uses products for personal rather than business purposes. 40 CFR § 721(b)(1).
Different statutes may have different definitions for "consumer" and the exact statute which applies to your situation would need to be reviewed.
Consumer Law refers to the state and federal laws passed to assist individual persons, referred to as “Consumers”, with legal issues they come into contact with in their daily lives doing such things as buying goods, buying a home, buying a car, and dealing with servicers such as air conditioning repairs, home repairs, and car and truck repairs. There are numerous state and federal laws dealing with consumer issues and often these laws are referred to by their common names such as the Lemon Law and the “DTPA” (which stands for the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act).
A variety of consumer issues and problems. Some types of issues include such issues as the following:
- identity theft,
- fraud,
- misrepresentation,
- home foreclosure,
- disputes over ownership or title to property,
- auto repossession,
- deceptive trade practices including false, misleading, and deceptive acts and practices,
- breach of contract or cancellation of certain contracts, and
- abusive and harassing debt collection,
- homeowners whose homes were being foreclosed upon and assisted them to save their homes,
- people who were subject to unfair and deceptive sales practices for contracts for air conditioning, water filtering systems, and home repairs,
- Individuals who were being illegally harassed in violation of the fair debt collection laws,
- Consumers who were sold defective cars and trucks and defective auto repair services through the use of false, misleading, and deceptive statements by the seller,
- individuals with disputes with their landlords, and
- individuals with disputes with their homeowner's associations.
There are several statutes which allow a person to cancel a contract depending upon the circumstances. Often these statutes have extremely short time deadlines such as three days.
These statutes have multiple exceptions and requirements and you should consult with an attorney as soon as possible if you want to cancel or withdraw from a contract.
In addition, there is a contracts common law remedy called rescission which allows a person to rescind a contract in some circumstances. In order to rescind a contract, a person generally has to return or tender back the consideration received by that person under the contract to the opposing party. Rescission is not automatic and you should seek the advice of an attorney prior to attempting to exercise such remedy.
In many circumstances, Texas law allows secured lenders to repossess motor vehicles without notice and even if the car or pickup is parked in front of your house or on your property. Further, if you try to hide a vehicle from a secured lender, it can actually constitute a crime in Texas under Texas Penal Code Section 32.33. There are legal issues involved and short time deadlines and you should seek the advice of an attorney.
DISCLAIMER: INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS SECTION IS FOR GENERAL PURPOSE ONLY AND IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE. EACH CASE IS DIFFERENT. TO OBTAIN LEGAL ADVICE, MAKE AN APPOINTMENT.
This firm handles litigation in Texas State Courts, Federal District Court and Bankruptcy Court. Areas of practice include, but are not limited to, the following practice areas:
Please feel free to call (512) 280-7600 to see if your matter is in an area of law that we handle and to make an appointment