Minnesota Consumer Rights Blog

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a piece of federal legislation that aims to protect consumers from unethical creditors. It places a high value on transparency. This is one of the reasons why this piece of legislation gives consumers the right to request a free credit report that they can review once a year. The FCRA can protect you if you identify incorrect information that has been placed on your report. This legislation also gives your creditors a limited amount of time to investigate such claims.

Your right to dispute any information contained on your credit report is protected by FCRA. Creditors are required to report any disputed claims immediately to credit reporting agencies. This may result in the entries on your report being marked as disputed for prospective lenders to see.

You were likely tempted by numerous sales this winter holiday season that just wrapped up. While you may be good at deciding between wants versus needs, there are plenty of other individuals that haven't yet mastered making such decisions. Many advertisers invest significant time and resources in trying to figure out what language they can use in marketing materials to get you to make a purchase. This often results in them engaging in deceptive advertising techniques.

Advertisers spend significant time learning about psychology. They learn what colors, pricing schemes and wording may motivate buyers to make a purchase. Marketers know that you're unlikely to purchase an item if you perceive it to be sold at the manufacturer's suggested retail price. They know that you're likely to have a harder time walking away from it if it's listed as being sold for a percentage off or on a limited-time sale. This is why you'll see signs advertising discounts on just about everything at some stores.

Knowing that you owe someone money might bring up feelings of wanting to get them paid off as soon as possible. When the person you owe is a business or agency and you are unable to pay, you might end up having your account sent to a collection agency.

Collection agencies are known for being ruthless when it comes to collecting the debts turned over to them. Some consumers don't realize that there are specific laws that govern the actions and behavior of debt collectors who work for these agencies.

A 42-year-old Burnsville man was sentenced to 4.5 years in federal prison by a federal judge in Wisconsin earlier this week. The Minnesota resident had been convicted of running a Ponzi scheme leading up to his sentencing. The U.S. Attorney's Office argued that the financial scheme that he devised allowed him to dupe unsuspecting elderly individuals out of $1.2 million over several years.

Court documents spell out how the defendant had originally been running a coin collection business in both Minnesota and Wisconsin up until a few years ago. He'd spent most of his time in the latter up until recently when state lawmakers instituted laws that prohibited ex-felons from operating businesses in this sector.