Title: February 22, 2006
Q. I helped my friend over the weekend to work on his car brakes. He gave me a six-pack of beer for helping him. My friend got in an accident and claimed his brakes failed. Am I responsible?
A. Unless you are a certified car mechanic and had a contract with your friend to fix the brakes, for which you got paid a six-pack of beer, you are not responsible for the accident.
Q. I have been sued by a collection agency trying to collect a credit card debt that is at least 10 years old, if not older. I did use the credit card but I lost my job and had no money to make the monthly payments. The debt grew and grew until it became totally unmanageable for me. Now, this collection agency wants triple what the debt was originally. What do I do?
A You need to answer the complaint by generally denying the complaint allegations. Then as an affirmative defense, you need to mention that the cause of action for breach of contract is barred by the statute of limitations as well as any other causes of action. This means that the debt is too old to be collected on. The statute of limitations on credit card debt is four years after your last payment or the last communication between the credit card and you.
Q. My mother died about one month ago. Of course, I contacted a funeral home for them to handle the cremation of my mother’s body. In order for my mother’s body to be cremated, they told me I had to purchase a casket. I was grieving and not in my right mind and I paid them almost $4,500 for a casket, but now that I think of it, why does a body need a casket to be cremated in? That makes no sense at all. I believe I was defrauded. What do you think?
A I agree. The Funeral Rule requires funeral providers to give you an accurate, itemized price list about funeral goods and services. To require the purchase of a casket for cremation is in direct violation of this rule, and this funeral provider will be subjected to a penalty up to $10,000 for this egregious act. You need to report this to the authorities and hire an attorney to file a lawsuit against the funeral provider. It is possible that you can write a letter and mention that you will file a lawsuit against the company unless they give you your money back for the violation if you want to avoid the time and aggravation associated with a lawsuit.
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She practices law from her Tehachapi office as well as her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers to the best of her abilities. Email your questions to maxinedev@msn.com or fax to (661)825-8880.
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