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Welcome to our mini-website for Oregon consumer law. The attorneys of Baxter & Baxter, LLP, are dedicated advocates for consumers. Baxter & Baxter, LLP, is a Pacific Northwest consumer protection law firm with offices in Oregon and Washington. To visit our firm’s main website, visit www.baxterlaw.com.

The Oregon consumer protection lawyers of the Consumer Litigation Group represent individuals in cases with false credit reports, identity theft cases, unlawful debt collection cases, and consumer fraud cases. The Portland Oregon bankruptcy attorneys, Hillsboro, Oregon bankruptcy attorneys, Oregon City bankruptcy attorneys, and Vancouver Washington bankruptcy lawyers of the Bankruptcy Practice Group represent individuals in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Our mission of committed and zealous consumer advocacy is unrivaled, and our track record of excellence and professionalism is recognized nationwide.

This site includes an aggregation of news stories about business, finance, and politics that bears upon our consumer protection and bankruptcy practice. We hope you will find the stories interesting and useful. For more information about our firm, please visit our main website at www.baxterlaw.com.

“We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for relief under the Bankruptcy Code.”

Unlawful Trade Practices

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Unlawful Trade Practices

Consumers can become the victims of bad business practices in any number of ways during the typical purchase of consumer goods and services, such as an automobile. Typical situations include failure to disclose prior damage, misrepresentations about the condition or history of a vehicle, and misrepresentations about the terms of the contracts.

The Oregon legislature passed a comprehensive consumer protection statute known as the Unlawful Trade Practices. That law prohibits businesses from making false or misleading statements when they have reason to know that their statements are false.

Other laws, like the federal Magnuson Moss Warranty Act give consumers additional rights under their warranties for consumer goods, such as automobiles. The federal Truth in Lending law requires lenders or their representatives to disclose the credit terms of a loan in uniform terms so that a consumer can compare the cost of credit from various sources.

Warning!

There is no three day right to unwind a car deal in Oregon! Some states allow a consumer to return their car within a certain time period after the purchase. There is no such law in Oregon. Unless a three day unwind provision is written into the contract, a consumer cannot unilaterally return the car without a valid legal basis.

State-owned bank idea gains traction

A push to create a publicly owned financial institution in Washington has gained traction among key legislative leaders in Olympia, with 44 House members and 11 state senators signed on to bills that would put the state in the finance business.
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Survey: Higher costs mean fewer freshmen enrolled in college they most wanted

Fewer students attend their top choice of colleges, a study finds. Fewer are receiving scholarships, and scholarship amounts are declining.

CCXFER.JPGBrett Stigile fills out a form at The University of Oregon table. The Oregon University system is attempting to get more students to transfer from community college. This will help the system boost its graduation rate. One way it is doing this is to go to community college campuses and talk to students, urging them to think about going after a bachelor's degree.
An annual survey of college freshmen has found fewer than ever enrolling in the college of their first choice. The most likely reason: cost.

Inside Higher Ed summarized the finding in the report by researchers at UCLA:

" ... fewer students than ever report being enrolled at the college they most wanted to attend, although a significant number of students continue to do so. Despite the fact that 76 percent of this year's freshmen were accepted to their first-choice institution, only 57.9 percent enrolled in their preferred college -- that’s the lowest the figure has been since 1974, when (researchers) first asked the question."
This downward trend began in 2006, the report says.

One reason: Fewer students report being able to finance or use scholarships for their education, the survey found. "... Fewer students are receiving scholarships and the dollar amount of scholarships is trending downward," the report says.

Meanwhile, as The Oregonian's Bill Graves reported this morning, Oregon universities are increasingly trolling community colleges for transfer students. It's Only Money's hunch is that those students have a better shot at getting financial aid because these universities want them more.

Recall my column from last year: Don't just get into college, get funded.

Increasingly, it's looking like a better move to start your college years at a community college before transferring to a more expensive school. The number doing so has increased dramatically in the past couple years.

Do you agree? What's your experience? Weigh in below.


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