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Truth in Lending: 6.6.3.5 Fees That Vary by State

There are two options for disclosure of a cash advance, late payment, balance transfer, over-the-limit, or returned-payment fees required to be disclosed in the account-opening table, if those fees vary from state to state.

Truth in Lending: 6.6.5.1 General Rule for Account-Opening Table

Within the account-opening table, creditors must disclose each periodic rate that may be used to compute the finance charge on an outstanding balance for purchases, cash advances, or balance transfers.995 These periodic rates must be expressed as an annual percentage rate (APR), calculated according to the Act and Regulation Z.996

Truth in Lending: 6.6.5.3 Point-of-Sale APRs That Vary by State

In certain cases, a creditor will provide the account-opening disclosures in person to the consumer in connection with financing of goods or services. If a creditor imposes APRs that vary by state or creditworthiness, the creditor has two options for disclosing the APR.

Truth in Lending: 6.6.5.4.1 General

Variable rates exist when changes in the APR are part of the plan and are tied to an index and formula.1015 When the index increases or decreases, the consumer’s interest rate rises and falls in tandem. Some card issuers will use a variable rate for purchases but a fixed rate (usually much higher) for other transactions, such as cash advances.1016 Over 90% of general purpose credit cards have variable APRs.1017

Truth in Lending: 6.6.5.4.2 Variable rate disclosure in the account-opening table

If an account is subject to a variable rate, the creditor will be required to disclose in the account-opening table that the rate is variable and how the rate is determined.1023 The issuer must identify the type of index or formula that is used in setting the rate; however, creditors are prohibited from disclosing in the account-opening table the current value of the index and the amount of the margin that are used to calculate the variable rate.1024 Thus, for example, the issuer must disclo

Truth in Lending: 6.6.5.4.4 Disclosure of rate change triggers

Disclosure of the circumstances under which the rate may increase should include factors such as an increase in the index to which the rate is tied.1034 The disclosure must also reveal when the increase takes effect.1035 For example, the increase may be scheduled to take effect simultaneously with changes in the index; it may take effect periodically on a date in the billing cycle or a specified periodic date; or the rate increase may take effect only when the index has changed a set amount.

Truth in Lending: 6.6.5.5.2 Disclosures outside of the account-opening table

Creditors must make certain disclosures about introductory rates outside of the account-opening table. Regulation Z consolidates the disclosures for introductory and penalty rates outside of the required table. Thus, for APR changes that are specifically set forth in the account agreement and not tied to an index or formula, the creditor must disclose:1063

Consumer Arbitration Agreements: 5.4.1.0a Why It Matters

Consumer litigants often prefer to make legal arguments as to an agreement’s enforceability before a court, where appellate review can consider legal questions de novo, instead of before an arbitrator, where errors of law may not be enough to vacate a ruling.

Consumer Class Actions: Attorneys’ Fees

The California Supreme Court recently reaffirmed the propriety of calculating fees as a percentage of the common fund made available to the class. Laffitte v. Robert Half Int’l Inc. (2016) 1 Cal. 5th 480, 485. The court affirmed the fee award of one-third of the common fund, holding that trial courts have further discretion to conduct a lodestar cross-check or forgo the lodestar analysis and use other means to evaluate the reasonableness of the requested fee percentage. Id. at 506. The mandate from Serrano v.

Consumer Class Actions: Standing to Appeal a Class Settlement Requires Intervention

In Hernandez v. Restoration Hardware, Inc., 4 Cal. 5th 260, 270 (2018), the California Supreme Court held that class members who object to a settlement need to intervene in the action to have standing to appeal any aspect of the settlement.

In contrast, the United States Supreme Court recently resolved a split of federal authority and unequivocally rejected intervention as a prerequisite for class member appeal and, instead, held that any class member who appears and objects before the trial court has standing to appeal:

Consumer Class Actions: Exception for stayed PAGA claims

However, dismissal of class claims is not appealable where the plaintiff continues to pursue a PAGA claim and individual arbitration, because there is no de facto final judgment for absent plaintiffs and thus no death knell effect. Young v. Remx, Inc. (2016) 2 Cal. App. 5th 630, 633. See also Nguyen v. Applied Med. Res. Corp. (2016) 4 Cal. App. 5th 232, 240.

Consumer Class Actions: Pre-Certification Discovery

California courts recognize the parties’ right to conduct appropriate pre-certification discovery. (Best Buy Stores, L.P. v. Superior Court (2006) 137 Cal. App. 4th 772 [40 Cal. Rptr. 3d 578]; Bartold v. Glendale Federal Bank (2000) 81 Cal. App. 4th 816, 827 [97 Cal. Rptr. 2d 226] (“[D]ue process requires ‘an opportunity to conduct discovery on class action issues before . . . documents in support of or in opposition to the motion must be filed . . .’ ”) quoting Carabini v. Superior Court (1994) 26 Cal. App. 4th 239, 243-244) [31 Cal. Rptr.

Consumer Class Actions: CONN. RULES FOR THE SUPERIOR COURT, PRACTICE BOOK §§ 9-7 THROUGH 9-10

§ 9-7. Class ActionsPrerequisites to Class Actions

One or more members of a class may sue or be sued as representative parties on behalf of all only if (1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable, (2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class, (3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class, and (4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.

Consumer Class Actions: 1. Comparison With Federal Rule 23

The text of Rule 52.08 of the Missouri Supreme Court Rules is similar to that of Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.52 State ex rel. American Family Mutual Ins. Co. v. Clark, 106 S.W.3d 483, 490 (Mo. banc 2003); State ex rel. Byrd v. Chadwick, 956 S.W.2d 369, 379 (Mo. Ct. App. 1997); Grosser v. Kandel-Iken Builders, Inc., 647 S.W.2d 911, 916 (Mo. Ct. App. 1983). Because Mo. Sup. Ct. R.