Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog

DiTommaso-Lubin handles wage and hour class action litigation on a regular basis, and many of our clients' claims are based upon violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Our Schaumburg unpaid overtime attorneys were interested to see a recent class-action brought by restaurant workers alleging violations of the FLSA.

Cao v. Wu Liang Ye Lexington Rest., Inc. is a suit filed by twenty-four employees of two restaurants in New York City. The employees worked as waiters, delivery workers, and a food packer for Defendants and filed suit for unpaid minimum and overtime wages, illegal tip deductions, expense reimbursement for the purchase and maintenance of bicycles and uniforms. Plaintiffs also sought statutory liquidated damages, prejudgment interest, and attorneys' fees. Plaintiffs filed for default, which was granted by the Court. Plaintiffs subsequently submitted their damages calculations and Defendants opposed Plaintiffs' application for damages on the basis that Plaintiffs' calculations were inflated and Defendants' violations of the FLSA were not willful.

The Court addressed Defendants' arguments by first discussing the applicable law. The limitations period for FLSA claims is generally two years, but is three years for defendants that willfully break the law. The Court then ruled that the three year statute of limitations was applicable because Defendants defaulted and therefore admitted Plaintiffs' willfulness allegations. The Court also found the longer statute of limitations applied because Defendants admitted that they did not try to learn about the FLSA's requirements until just prior to the commencement of the lawsuit. Plaintiffs argued that they should receive unpaid wages for the entirety of their employment under the doctrine of equitable tolling due to the fact that Defendants failed to post a notice explaining the FLSA in plain view of employees. The Court saw no reason to extend Plaintiffs' claims beyond the statutory three year period because Defendants' had not engaged in any sort of deception or other exceptional activity, and prior case law held that equitable tolling only applies in unusual circumstances. The Court finished by granting Plaintiffs damages for unpaid minimum wage, overtime wages, unlawful tip deductions, reimbursement for bicycle expenses, liquidated damages, prejudgment interest, and attorneys' fees.

The Court denied reimbursement for uniform expenses because most of the clothing worn by employees could be “worn as a part of the employees' ordinary wardrobe.” Plaintiffs did also wear a red vest that could be considered outside an ordinary wardrobe, but there was no evidence in the record that Plaintiffs' incurred expenses obtaining or cleaning the red vests.

Cao v. Wu Liang Ye Lexington Rest., Inc. provides future wage and hour litigants with several lessons when it comes to preparing damages applications. First and foremost, courts are unlikely to apply equitable tolling to extend the FLSA's statute of limitations in the absence of intentional deception or fraud by defendants. Additionally, this case serves as a reminder that employees should keep accurate records of work related expenses if they wish to recover damages under the FLSA.

Continue reading "Federal Court Indicates Equitable Tolling Only Available in FLSA Cases When There is Evidence of Deception by Defendants" »

Courts have been flooded lately with claims by non-exempt employees who have not been compensated for time spent logging into computer systems and performing other start-up procedures. As experienced overtime lawyers, DiTommaso-Lubin has been tracking many of these cases, and the Northern District of Illinois made a recent ruling on one such case.

In Kernats v. Comcast Corporation, Plaintiffs worked for Defendant as customer account representatives (CAE's) who performed non-exempt work and were paid on an hourly basis. Plaintiffs worked in one of Defendant's eight call centers in Illinois, and while all Plaintiffs did not perform exactly the same job, they did have the same job description and primary duty. Additionally, they all had similar training, were governed by the same employment policies, and were compensated in the same way. Also, all CAE's were allegedly required to first log into a work computer, load all of the necessary computer applications, and log into Defendant's phone system before the start of their shift. In addition to the customer service responsibilities, Defendant required CAE's to learn about new products, services, marketing campaigns, and review company emails.

Plaintiffs filed suit alleging that Defendant failed to compensate Plaintiffs for the time after they first logged in, but prior to their scheduled start time, which violated the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (IWPCA). Plaintiffs also claimed that working this uncompensated time caused them to work more than forty hours a week. This entitled them to overtime compensation pursuant to the Illinois Minimum Wage Law (IMWL). After some limited discovery, Plaintiffs moved to certify two classes, one for each state law claim, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.

In making their ruling, the Court found that Plaintiffs met the threshold requirements of Rule 23(a) because the class members were subject to standardized conduct by Defendant. This conduct was the implementation of a company-wide practice allowing CAE's to work after their login, but before the start of their shift without being paid. The class-members' claims also were based upon the same legal theory, and thus met the minimal requirements of typicality and commonality. The Court then held that the requirements of Rule 23(b)(3) were met because the evidence required to prove liability that was common to the class significantly outweighed the evidence particular to the individual class members. The Court also found that a class-action was the preferable means for adjudicating the issues because the individual recovery for individuals would be relatively small, while the aggregate recovery would be quite large. As such, the Court ruled that the requirements of FRCP 23 were met and certified the class-action.

Continue reading "Court Certifies Class-Action for Unpaid Employee Login Time" »

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Consumer Law and Policy Blog reports:

In a closely watched case, the California Supreme Court on Thursday issued a decision preserving the broad availability of the state’s principal consumer protection laws in cases involving mislabeled goods.The question at issue in Kwikset v. Superior Court (Benson) was whether a consumer who has bought a product that was mislabeled -- a “union-made” shirt that was in fact manufactured in a sweatshop, “organic” produce that was grown with pesticides, or (as in this case) a “Made in the USA” lockset that had actually been partly manufactured in Taiwan and Mexico -- may bring suit under the Unfair Competition Law (UCL) and the False Advertising Law (FAL). Proposition 64, passed by referendum in 2004, inserted in both laws a requirement that a private plaintiff have “lost money or property.” But what if the product the customer received was perfectly functional even if it wasn't what the customer had ordered? Was there still a loss of money or property? The Court of Appeal thought not: since the item received was of equal value, plaintiffs had not “lost money” and therefore could not bring a claim under the UCL or FAL. The California Supreme Court, however, disagreed. The Supreme Court held that neither the language nor the logic of Prop 64 precluded suits by consumers who did not get what they paid for. “Plaintiffs who can truthfully allege they were deceived by a product’s label into spending money to purchase the product, and would not have purchased it otherwise, have ‘lost money or property’ within the meaning of Proposition 64 and have standing to sue.” It doesn't matter that to some other people, or by some objective measure, the mislabeled product is worth as much as the one the consumer expected. What matters is the consumer’s subjective valuation. The Court recognized (and held that the UCL and FAL recognize) the reality of consumer decisionmaking, including the importance some consumers place on knowing the process by which products are made. “Simply stated: labels matter. The marketing industry is based on the premise that labels matter, that consumers will choose one product over another similar product based on its label and various tangible and intangible qualities they may come to associate with a particular source.” The Court then went further and formally disapproved three court of appeal cases that had held that restitution must be available in any UCL or FAL case brought by a private party. Injunctive relief, the Court held, is the primary relief contemplated by those laws, and nothing in Prop 64 changed that. In sum, instead of a court of appeal opinion further restricting the type and number of cases that can be brought under California's consumer protection laws, we now have a Supreme Court opinion that preserves and even expands the laws' scope. To illustrate its conclusions, the Court relied heavily on sources, examples (e.g., Rolex watches, halal meat, “conflict diamonds,” the lack of a secondary market in perishable goods), and analysis drawn from an amicus brief written by Public Good and filed on behalf of nine consumer groups, including Public Citizen. (The brief is available here.)

You can read the full California Supreme Court decision by clicking here.

Our lawyers have achieved consumer victories in class actions lwhere consumers who had suffered small injuries received full refunds. In a case against Hilton for including a non-tax charge in the tax line item, we won at trial and each consumer victim who could be located received a check for 98% of their damages with all attorneys fees and court costs paid by Hilton as required by the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.

Our Oak Brook, Illinois consumer rights private law firm handles individual and class action predatory lending, unfair debt collection, lemon law and other consumer fraud cases that government agencies and public interest law firms such as the Illinois Attorney General may not pursue. Class action lawsuits our law firm has been involved in or spear-headed have led to substantial awards totalling over a million dollars to organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center, and local law school consumer programs. The Chicago consumer rights attorneys at DiTommaso-Lubin are proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers' rights are protected from consumer rip-offs and unscrupulous or dishonest practices.

Our Highland Park and Schaumburg consumer attorneys provide assistance in fair debt collection, consumer fraud and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases our Chicago consumer lawyers have handled. A video of our lawsuit which helped ensure more fan friendly security at Wrigley Field can be found here. You can contact one of our Waukegan consumer protection attorneys who can assist in consumer fraud, consumer rip-off, lemon law, unfair debt collection, predatory lending, wage claims, unpaid overtime and other consumer, or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.

The blog classactionblawg provides an excellent summary of important class action decisions from the past year. You can read this blog post by clicking here.

Our Woodstock, Illinois consumer rights private law firm handles individual and class action predatory lending, unfair debt collection, lemon law and other consumer fraud cases that government agencies and public interest law firms such as the Illinois Attorney General may not pursue. Class action lawsuits our law firm has been involved in or spear-headed have led to substantial awards totalling over a million dollars to organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center, and local law school consumer programs. The Chicago consumer rights attorneys at DiTommaso-Lubin are proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers' rights are protected from consumer rip-offs and unscrupulous or dishonest practices.

Our Riverwoods and Winnetka consumer attorneys provide assistance in fair debt collection, consumer fraud and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases our Chicago consumer lawyers have handled. A video of our lawsuit which helped ensure more fan friendly security at Wrigley Field can be found here. You can contact one of our Chicago consumer protection attorneys who can assist in consumer fraud, consumer rip-off, lemon law, unfair debt collection, predatory lending, wage claims, unpaid overtime and other consumer, or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.

The website Can My Boss Do That sets down in plain english your rights as an employee. The website has a great section on http://www.canmybossdothat.com/category.php?id=6. It explains when you are entitled to get paid.

This website is a great resource for finding out your legal rights as a employee.

Continue reading "Best Websites on the Internet for Class Action and Consumer Law Issues -- "Can My Boss Do That" Website Spells Out Worker Employment Rights in Plain English" »

Public Citizen's blog is a great resource to learn about consumer rights issues. It regularly publishes insightful posts on many cutting edge consume rissues such as how large corporations and law firms abuse their power through misuse trademark law to silence criticism and infringe free speech rights.

You can view the blog by clicking here.

Click here and here to read two interesting posts about how a large law firm uses trademark law.

Continue reading "Best Websites on the Internet for Class Action and Consumer Law Issues -- Public Citizen's Blog Presents a Unique and Insightful Point of View on Consumer Rights Issues" »

Publich Justice reports on its website:

The consumer and civil rights communities are closely watching AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, a case that will be argued in the Supreme Court this November. Depending on how broadly the Court reads the question presented in Concepcion, the case could decide the fate of consumer and employee class actions for years to come.

Public Justice's Senior Attorney Paul Bland, Staff Attorney Claire Prestel and Brayton-Baron Fellow Melanie Hirsch explain what is at stake in ATT Mobility v. Concepcion, a case with profound consumer and civil rights implications. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case this fall. Click here to see what is at stake.

Our Elgin, Illinois consumer rights private law firm handles individual and class action predatory lending, unfair debt collection, lemon law and other consumer fraud cases that government agencies and public interest law firms such as the Illinois Attorney General may not pursue. Class action lawsuits our law firm has been involved in or spear-headed have led to substantial awards totalling over a million dollars to organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center, and local law school consumer programs. The Chicago consumer lawyers at DiTommaso-Lubin are proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers' rights are protected from consumer rip-offs and unscrupulous or dishonest practices.

Our Waukegan and Northbrook consumer attorneys provide assistance in fair debt collection, consumer fraud and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases we have handled. A video of our lawsuit which helped ensure more fan friendly security at Wrigley Field can be found here. You can contact one of our Chicago consumer protection attorneys who can assist in consumer fraud, consumer rip-off, lemon law, unfair debt collection, predatory lending, wage claims, unpaid overtime and other consumer, or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.

You can view our Oak Brook and Chicago attorneys listings on Super Lawyers. Super Lawyers only selects 5% of the attorneys in the State to receive the Super Lawyer designation.

Vincent L. DiTommaso

online at

visit superlawyers.com

Peter S. Lubin

online at

visit superlawyers.com

The National Consumer Law Center has improved what already was one of the best websites on the internet for consumer law and class-action issues with a brand new website. NCLC encourages

you to take a look around the website and discover all it has to offer. In a time of historic changes in consumer financial regulation, it contains a treasure trove of cutting-edge information and resources for lawyers, consumer advocates, policymakers, and the public.

The website describes state consumer protection and fraud laws:

Every state has a consumer protection law that prohibits deceptive practices, and many prohibit unfair or unconscionable practices as well. These statutes, commonly known as Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices or UDAP statutes, provide bedrock protections for consumers. In billions of transactions annually, UDAP statutes provide the main protection to consumers against predators and unscrupulous businesses.

You can view NCLC's new website here.

The website has this to say about illegal debt collection:

Nearly all households who are behind on their bills paid their bills until they faced a financial catastrophe: unemployment, illness, disability, divorce, or succumbed to some of the daily exhortations in their mailbox to borrow and on TV to buy on credit. During recessions even more consumers fall behind because they are laid off by an employer. Recognizing this, federal and many states’ laws require that financially distressed consumers not be abused, deceived, lose their privacy, or be treated unfairly. Debt collectors use various forms of illegal intimidation, including talking with friends and employers about a consumer’s debt without permission from the debtor; making harassing or abusive telephone calls; threatening to take actions that are illegal or not intended; and suing on debts that were paid or not owed. Fortunately there are more lawyers focusing on helping consumers with debt collection harassment than ever before.

You can view the illegal debt collection page here. It has links to alot of useful information on illegal debt collection laws.

The website discusses lemon law and auto fraud issues:

A car is often essential for working families. The family car can be the key to a better job or any job at all, access to health care, and the ability to find affordable housing with access to child care and a reasonable commute. All too often abuses in the sale and financing of cars hinder the efforts of families to buy and keep a safe, reliable car at reasonable terms. Families are maneuvered into buying cars with defects known by the dealer but not disclosed to the consumer. Financing arranged by the dealer is designed not to help the consumer get the best deal, but instead to line the dealer’s pockets through unfair practices such as loan packing and dealer mark-ups. High pressure sales tactics, fraud, and abusive practices such as yo-yo sales, are used to put families in cars and loans that trap families with negative equity, high payments, and unreliable cars.

Our Naperville, Illinois consumer rights private law firm handles individual and class action predatory lending, unfair debt collection, lemon law and other consumer fraud cases that government agencies and public interest law firms such as the Illinois Attorney General may not pursue. Class action lawsuits our law firm has been involved in or spear-headed have led to substantial awards totalling over a million dollars to organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center, and local law school consumer programs. The Chicago consumer lawyers at DiTommaso-Lubin are proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers' rights are protected from consumer rip-offs and unscrupulous or dishonest practices.

Our Hinsdale and Waukegan consumer attorneys provide assistance in fair debt collection, consumer fraud and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases we have handled. A video of our lawsuit which helped ensure more fan friendly security at Wrigley Field can be found here. You can contact one of our Chicago consumer protection attorneys who can assist in consumer fraud, consumer rip-off, lemon law, unfair debt collection, predatory lending, wage claims, unpaid overtime and other consumer, or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.

You can view our Naperville and Chicago attorneys listings on Super Lawyers. Super Lawyers only selects 5% of the attorneys in the State to receive the Super Lawyer designation.

Vincent L. DiTommaso

online at

visit superlawyers.com

Peter S. Lubin

online at

visit superlawyers.com

The Federal Government has set up a consumer action website that contains insightful and detailed information about how consumers can protect their rights in many different types of consumer transactions. The website also has a link to the new Consumer Action Handbook. It describes the Consumer Action Handbook as follows:

This everyday guide to being a smart shopper is hot off the press and chock-full of helpful tips about preventing identity theft, understanding credit, filing a consumer complaint, and much more. In the 2010 edition, you'll find updated information about filing for bankruptcy, finding a lawyer, and planning a funeral, along with many other useful topics.

You can view a pdf copy of the 2010 Consumer Action Handbook here.

The website also has links for consumer complaint forms. It provides helpful tips on specific consumer issues, like buying a car or home or preventing identity theft.

If you are unable to resolve your consumer complaint and it involves issues of unfair dealing, consumer fraud or deception, our private consumer protection law firm can bring and individual or class action lawsuit in the right case to protect your rights and those of other consumer victims.

Our Chicago consumer attorneys handle individual and class action predatory lending, unfair debt collection, lemon law and other consumer fraud cases that government agencies and public interest law firms such as the Illinois Attorney General may not pursue. Class action lawsuits our law firm has been involved in or spear-headed have led to substantial awards totalling over a million dollars to organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center, and local law school consumer programs. The Waukegan consumer fraud lawyers at DiTommaso-Lubin are proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers' rights are protected from consumer rip-offs and unscrupulous or dishonest practices.

Our Chicago consumer trial attorneys provide assistance in fair debt collection, consumer fraud and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases we have handled. A video of our lawsuit which helped ensure more fan friendly security at Wrigley Field can be found here. You can contact one of our Naperville consumer law attorneys who can assist in lemon law, unfair debt collection, predatory lending, wage claims, unpaid overtime and other consumer, consumer fraud or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.

Our Wheaton, Illinois consumer rights private law firm handles individual and class action predatory lending, unfair debt collection, lemon law and other consumer fraud cases that government agencies and public interest law firms such as the Illinois Attorney General may not pursue. Class action lawsuits our law firm has been involved in or spear-headed have led to substantial awards totalling over a million dollars to organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center, and local law school consumer programs. The Chicago consumer attorneys at DiTommaso-Lubin are proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers' rights are protected from consumer rip-offs and unscrupulous or dishonest practices.

Our Waukegan consumer attorneys provide assistance in fair debt collection, consumer fraud and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases we have handled. A video of our lawsuit which helped ensure more fan friendly security at Wrigley Field can be found here. You can contact one of our Chicago consumer protection attorneys who can assist in lemon law, unfair debt collection, predatory lending, wage claims, unpaid overtime and other consumer, consumer fraud or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.

The American Bar Association has published an excellent guide for ordinary people to consumer law issues. You can view the Guide online by clicking here. The introduction to the Guide explains:

This book helps you understand the everyday transactions that make up economic life, and sets out the basic rights and obligations of people playing the free-enterprise game. When you've better informed, your choices will be greater and you'll get the most for your money. And the better able you are to protect what you earn—by spending or investing it wisely—the more opportunity you'll have to enjoy the rewards of your hard work.

The Guide describes consumer fraud laws such as the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act:

Many states have analogous laws, known as the “Little FTC Acts,” by which many states have created their own versions of the FTC. One of the notable aspects of the Little FTC Acts, or the consumer fraud laws, is that private citizens are often authorized to recover extra damages (that is, 5 more than they lost) and attorney fees if they show that a deceptive practice by a merchant caused them a loss.

Our Chicago consumer protection private law firm handles individual and class action predatory lending, unfair debt collection, lemon law and other consumer fraud cases that government agencies and public interest law firms such as the Illinois Attorney General may not pursue. Class action lawsuits our law firm has been involved in or spear-headed have led to substantial awards totalling over a million dollars to organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center, and local law school consumer programs. The Waukegan consumer fraud lawyers at DiTommaso-Lubin are proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers' rights are protected from consumer rip-offs and unscrupulous or dishonest practices.

Our Chicago attorneys provide assistance in fair debt collection, consumer fraud and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases we have handled. A video of our lawsuit which helped ensure more fan friendly security at Wrigley Field can be found here. You can contact one of our Oak Brook consumer law attorneys who can assist in lemon law, unfair debt collection, predatory lending, wage claims, unpaid overtime and other consumer, consumer fraud or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.

Our Wheaton consumer protection private law firm handles individual and class action predatory lending, unfair debt collection, lemon law and other consumer fraud cases that government agencies and public interest law firms such as the Illinois Attorney General may not pursue. Class action lawsuits our law firm has been involved in or spear-headed have led to substantial awards totalling over a million dollars to organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center, and local law school consumer programs. The Wheaton consumer fraud lawyers at DiTommaso-Lubin are proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers' rights are protected from consumer rip-offs and unscrupulous or dishonest practices.

Our Joliet attorneys provide assistance in fair debt collection, consumer fraud and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases we have handled. A video of our lawsuit which helped ensure more fan friendly security at Wrigley Field can be found here. You can contact one of our Chicago consumer law attorneys who can assist in lemon law, unfair debt collection, predatory lending, wage claims, unpaid overtime and other consumer, consumer fraud or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.

Our Naperville consumer protection private law firm handles individual and class action predatory lending, unfair debt collection, lemon law and other consumer fraud cases that government agencies and public interest law firms such as the Illinois Attorney General may not pursue. Class action lawsuits our law firm has been involved in or spear-headed have led to substantial awards totalling over a million dollars to organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center, and local law school consumer programs. The Wheaton consumer fraud lawyers at DiTommaso-Lubin are proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers' rights are protected from consumer rip-offs and unscrupulous or dishonest practices.

Our Oak Brook attorneys provide assistance in fair debt collection, consumer fraud and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases we have handled. A video of our lawsuit which helped ensure more fan friendly security at Wrigley Field can be found here. You can contact one of our Chicago consumer law lawyers who can assist in lemon law, unfair debt collection, predatory lending, wage claims, unpaid overtime and other consumer, consumer fraud or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.

Our Chicago consumer protection private law firm handles individual and class action predatory lending, unfair debt collection, lemon law and other consumer fraud cases that government agencies and public interest law firms such as the Illinois Attorney General may not pursue. Class action lawsuits our law firm has been involved in or spear-headed have led to substantial awards totalling over a million dollars to organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center, and local law school consumer programs. The Chicago consumer fraud lawyers at DiTommaso-Lubin are proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers' rights are protected from consumer rip-offs and unscrupulous or dishonest practices.

Our Chicago attorneys provide assistance in fair debt collection, consumer fraud and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases we have handled. A video of our lawsuit which helped ensure more fan friendly security at Wrigley Field can be found here. You can contact one of our Chicago consumer law lawyers who can assist in lemon law, unfair debt collection, predatory lending, wage claims, unpaid overtime and other consumer, consumer fraud or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.

Consumer contracts need to be simplified.

Our Chicago consumer lawyers handle individual and class action predatory lending, mortgage fraud, unfair debt collection, lemon law and other consumer fraud cases that government agencies and public interest law firms such as the Illinois Attorney General may not pursue. Class action lawsuits our Chicago consumer lawyers have been involved in or spear-headed have led to substantial awards totalling over a million dollars to organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center, and local law school consumer programs. DiTommaso-Lubin is proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers' rights are protected from consumer rip-offs and unscrupulous or dishonest practices.

Our Waukegan, Lombard, Mokena and Chicago consumer attorneys provide assistance in fair debt collection, consumer fraud and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases we have handled. A video of our lawsuit which helped ensure more fan friendly security at Wrigley Field can be found here. You can contact one of our Chicago consumer law attorneys who can assist in lemon law, unfair debt collection, predatory lending, mortgage and real-estate fraud, wage claims, unpaid overtime and other consumer, consumer fraud or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.

The following story appeared on a Houston television station about debt a collection harrassment lawsuit resulting in a $1.5 million damages award.

The harassing and threatening voicemail messages left on Allen Jones' mobile phone are nothing short of vulgar.

"This shouldn't be tolerated," he said. "Nobody should have to experience what I had to experience."

Debt collectors from Advanced Call Center Technologies, LLC left eight messages for Jones in August 2007 trying to collect what it said he owed on a credit card.

Most messages were laced with profanity and spewed racial slurs:

"This is your mother******* wake-up call you little lazy a** b****," a collector said on one. "Get your mother******* n****r ass up and go pick some mother******* cotton fields."

Jones is African-American.

"If we did not have tapes, no one would ever believe that this happened," Mark Frenkel, one of Jones' attorneys said.

The recordings are so offensive News 8 decided against publishing transcripts of the others.

"This is absolutely, without a doubt, the most egregious collection case I've ever seen," Dean Malone, Jones' other attorney, added.

Jones sued Advanced Call Center Technologies over the harassing calls.

Friday afternoon, a Dallas County jury awarded him one of the biggest verdicts of its kind.

He won $50,000 in mental anguish and $1.5 million in punitive damages.

"We made a statement and the statement is we will not tolerate abusive debt collectors," Jones continued.

Frenkel and Malone said employees from Advanced Call Center Technologies confessed to the calls. It remains unclear if they're still with the company and whether it will appeal. Messages left at its headquarters were not immediately returned.

Jones always disputed the debt and claims he paid it.

The amount in question is as hard to believe as the calls themselves.

"They did this to Allen for under $200," Frenkel pointed out. "Two hundred bucks put him through this."

Now the company trying to collect money has become the one paying it out.

Our Oak Brook consumer rights private law firm handles individual and class action predatory lending, unfair debt collection, lemon law and other consumer fraud cases that government agencies and public interest law firms such as the Illinois Attorney General may not pursue. Class action lawsuits our law firm has been involved in or spear-headed have led to substantial awards totalling over a million dollars to organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center, and local law school consumer programs. The Chicago consumer attorneys at DiTommaso-Lubin are proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers' rights are protected from consumer rip-offs and unscrupulous or dishonest practices.

Our Naperville and Aurora consumer lawyers provide assistance in fair debt collection, consumer fraud and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases we have handled. A video of our lawsuit which helped ensure more fan friendly security at Wrigley Field can be found here. You can contact one of our Chicago consumer law lawyers who can assist in lemon law, unfair debt collection, predatory lending, wage claims, unpaid overtime and other consumer, consumer fraud or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.

The Illinois Attorney General has listed the top 10 consumer complaints of 2009. The Attorney General's website describes those complaints:

The intensifying home foreclosure crisis dominated Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s Top 10 Consumer Complaints for 2009. Madigan today reported that 31,264 consumers filed complaints with her Consumer Protection Division last year. The consumer debt category topped the complaints filed by Illinois consumers, including a 65 percent increase in residential mortgage-related complaints. In addition, an estimated 21,000 consumers have called the Attorney General’s Homeowner Helpline for assistance since 2008, while the Attorney General’s Consumer Fraud Bureau helped secure an estimated $23 million in mortgage-related savings, including loan modifications for at-risk borrowers, last year.

“These numbers demonstrate how this economic crisis is hitting home for tens of thousands of Illinois families,” Madigan said. “Hardworking people are struggling to make their mortgage payments on time. They’re fighting to cope with mounting debts, and they’re being targeted by con artists looking to make a quick buck. This is a challenging time, and I urge anyone who is struggling to make ends meet to contact my office to make sure that they do not become victims of fraud.”

Consumer Debt Complaints Rank First
Since 2008, complaints to Madigan’s office about consumer debt grew nearly 16.5 percent, a reflection of the increasingly dire financial constraints people in Illinois are experiencing during the economic downturn. Complaints in this top category cover a wide range of consumer debt issues, such as residential mortgages, credit card debt, and installment loan debt. Specifically, the highest reported debt-related complaints involved:

Mortgage Foreclosure
In 2009, nearly 4,000 homeowners filed residential mortgage complaints with Madigan’s office, a 65 percent increase over the previous year. In addition to the significant increase, the types of complaints reported are also transforming. In the first wave of the foreclosure, a majority of complaints reported to the Attorney General’s office came from homeowners who were placed in risky home loans that they could never afford. As the foreclosure crisis continues, Madigan said that around 2008 her office began receiving more calls from homeowners who have lost their jobs and can no longer make their mortgage payments.

Madigan has made helping homeowners stay in their homes a top priority. In October 2008, the Attorney General brokered a ground-breaking $8.7 billion settlement in her predatory lending lawsuit against Countrywide, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, that established the country’s first mandatory loan modification program. As a result of this settlement and President Obama’s subsequent HAMP program, thousands of Countrywide borrowers in Illinois, and hundreds of thousands nationwide, have been able to modify their loans and remain in their homes. During 2009, Madigan also filed suit against Wells Fargo, alleging the lender engaged in consumer fraud and illegally discriminated against African American and Latino homeowners by selling them high-cost subprime mortgage loans while white borrowers with similar incomes received lower cost loans.

The Attorney General’s office also reported an increase in complaints against mortgage rescue companies that prey on homeowners who are desperate to save their homes. In the most common form of the scam, these so-called foreclosure “rescue” businesses charge homeowners a large up-front “consulting” fee to negotiate a loan modification with the lender. But after taking the homeowners’ money, these companies actually do little or nothing to save the home, leaving homeowners in an even more difficult situation. Madigan has filed 31 lawsuits targeting mortgage rescue scams.

Madigan established the Homeowner Helpline (1-866-544-7151) in 2008 to provide direct assistance for borrowers who risk losing their homes to foreclosure. Since its inception, the helpline has received more than 21,000 calls from homeowners seeking assistance. The Attorney General’s office also has helped secured more than $21 million in loan modification savings for borrowers who were at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure over the past year. Madigan encouraged consumers who are at risk of falling behind on their mortgage payments to call her office to learn more about homeowners’ rights and the options available to them to try to save their home.

Collection Agencies
In 2009, the consumer debt complaints received by Madigan’s office included more than 1,300 reports about collection agencies, including complaints that agencies started collection efforts without verifying that the consumer actually owed the debt, attempted to collect a debt from the wrong person and used abusive tactics such as making calls to a consumer’s workplace or using threatening language.

Credit Card Companies
More than 1,000 consumers sought help from Madigan’s office for problems with their credit cards. Increasing numbers of consumers called to complain that their credit card companies added unexpected fees and charges to their monthly statements and suddenly increased the interest rate on their cards. Other consumers complained that the credit card companies suddenly reduced their credit limits. Madigan said that consumers can dispute the changes to their credit agreements directly with the credit card company or call her Consumer Fraud Bureau for assistance in disputing charges.

Identity Theft Complaints Rank Second
After calls to Madigan’s office about consumer debt, identity theft remained high on the annual list of consumer complaints, coming in at the second most-reported issue. Madigan’s office received 4,376 identity theft-related complaints in 2009. A significant number of the complaints involve:

1.Credit card complaints (1,279), including reports of the takeover of an existing credit card account by a thief and also instances of a thief opening a new credit card account in the name of an ID theft victim;
2.Utility company complaints (464), concerning fraudulent wireless or landline phone, Internet, gas, electric and water accounts opened in the ID theft victim’s name; and
3.Bank fraud complaints (437), including complaints regarding stolen checks, new bank accounts opened in an ID theft victim’s name, and fraudulent withdrawals of money from victims’ bank accounts.
Consumers brought most of these complaints to Madigan’s office by contacting her Identity Theft Hotline (1-866-999-5630). Trained advocates and attorneys staff the hotline, working with consumers one-on-one to help them take the steps necessary to report the crime to local law enforcement and financial institutions, repair their credit and prevent future problems.

The Top 10 consumer complaints for 2009 are as follows:

CATEGORY # OF COMPLAINTS
1. Consumer Debt (mortgage lending, collections, credit cards) 7,843

2. Identity Theft (fraudulent credit cards and utility accounts, bank fraud) 4,376
3. Construction Home Improvement (remodeling, roofs/gutters) 2,601
4. Telecommunications (wireless service, local phone service, cable/satellite) 2,240
5 Promotions and Schemes (sweepstakes, pyramid, work-at-home schemes) 1,689
6. Motor Vehicles/Used Auto Sales (as-is sales, financing, warranties) 1,372
7. Mail Order (Internet purchases, catalog ordering, television/radio) 1,364
8. Fraud Against Business (consulting, directories/publications) 1,135
9. Utilities (natural gas, electric, water/sewer) 843
10. Motor Vehicle/Non-Warranty Repair (collision/body, engines, tune ups) 728

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Our Chicago consumer rights private law firm handles individual and class action unfair debt collection and other consumer fraud cases that government agencies and public interest law firms such as the Illinois Attorney General may not pursue. Class action lawsuits our law firm has been involved in or spear-headed have led to substantial awards totalling over a million dollars to organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center, and local law school consumer programs. DiTommaso-Lubin is proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers' rights are protected from consumer rip-offs and unscrupulous or dishonest practices.

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