It is not uncommon for banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions to violate the law. These laws may concern lending, sales, or other business practices. Consumer fraud protection laws were established to protect consumers and businesses from fraud, unfair and deceptive practices that create an unfair advantage.
Under state and federal law, companies that intentionally mislead or defrauded consumers about the character of their business or services may be subject to fines and penalties. Additionally, they may be liable for any harm suffered by their consumers.
At Maginnis Law, our attorneys work alongside consumers, regulators, and state officials to bring suit against companies who are engaging in unfair and deceptive trade practices and committing consumer fraud.
North Carolina Ch. 75 Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act
Chapter 75 of the North Carolina General Statutes protects consumers from fraud and unfair and deceptive business practices. Penalties for violating this statute can result in treble damages.
Some common types of consumer violations include:
- Misrepresentations about products or services
- Illegal foreclosures or repossession
- False advertising
- Illegal loans, Pay Day Lending
- Mortgage abuse
Examples of Deceptive Trade Practices
There are countless ways that businesses can deceive the consumer. Some common examples include:
- Advertising goods with the intent of not selling them that way.
- Failing to disclose important information about the product.
- Illegal mortgage payment fees.
- Enrolling a consumer in an automatically renewing program without disclosing the terms.
- Charging illegal eviction fees to tenants of an apartment complex.
Building Your Case
Many companies will try to avoid these types of suits by destroying evidence and denying allegations of their consumer fraud. As a result, it is imperative that you try to save any correspondence, contracts, phone messages, receipts, or other documents that may pertain to your case.
Keeping a list of the people that you talked with or met with will also be important to your claim. You should keep track of which people, customer services representatives, supervisors, and managers you spoke with and how long each conversation lasted. The more information and records you can maintain, the easier it will be to contradict the arguments of the opposing side and to establish the credibility of the consumer fraud you faced.
Relevant Consumer Fraud Class Actions and Case Results
Recently our firm has been investigating certain consumer fraud/consumer protection matters, these include:
- Being denied an apartment by a landlord without receiving a disclosure as to the specific reason for the denial or because the records provided were wrong.
- Being charged illegal convenience fees on your mortgage payments.
- When you have had a negative item removed from your credit report, but it continues to reappear months later.
Our firm’s consumer fraud attorneys recently reached a settlement valued at more than $7 million dollars ($3,750,000.00 in cash and $3,279,343.55 in debt waiver) for claims under state unfair debt collection statutes filed on behalf of tenants of Southwood Realty Company, a North Carolina property management company.
Attorneys Edward H. Maginnis and Karl S. Gwaltney represented the plaintiff, Angela Stewart.
Similarly, Ed Maginnis and Karl Gwaltney resolved a class action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the North Carolina Collection Agency Act for $1,200,000.00. In the case, a collection agency was attempting to collect debt, usually medical debt, from individuals who had filed a bankruptcy case and received a discharge (meaning they no longer owed the funds). This settlement was in 2019.
Consumer Protection Attorneys in North Carolina
Our North Carolina consumer fraud attorneys are committed to helping individuals and groups like you who have been wronged by big corporations, banks, creditors, and collection agencies.
Our consumer fraud/consumer protection lawyers file lawsuits against these finance companies, debt collectors, creditors, and collection agencies to protect you from their unlawful business practices. Without obtaining lawyers who will fight for you, you may never get justice.
You deserve representation that fights for the best results over the quickest settlement. Our proven results in these areas of practice speak for themselves.
Feel free to contact us at (919) 526-0450 or email us through our confidential contact page.
