Debt Relief - Are You a Victim of Fraud?

By Robby Thomas

If you received a statement from a creditor for a product or service you never purchased or subscribed to, it's important to take action immediately. If the debt was incurred through misrepresentation or by fraud, you're not legally liable for it. State and Federal laws ban businesses from cheating or deceiving consumers. Specific laws described as unfair and deceptive acts and practices (UDAP) have been enacted to protect consumers. These regulations apply to most privately owned businesses.

There are many other types of consumer protection laws specifically directed at certain types of businesses for services such as gyms and warranty companies. If you can't find a particular law that addresses your problem, you may find some relief by checking into the UDAP laws. UDAP address such issues as deceptive contracts with unfair terms, false or misleading oral and written financial representations, and false claims of repairing a product when it's still malfunctioning.

In some circumstances, the fraud is so unnoticeable, you may not discover it until it's way too late. Here are some red flags when going through a transaction:

1) A representative rushes you through the document signing process, directing you to sign here and there without allowing you the opportunity to read over the paperwork in private.

2) A representative who skirts your questions about what your total contract costs are and what happens when you default-but continues to hammer in the point of how low your beginning payments and interest rate will be.

3) The agent dismisses any legally required government disclosures as something unimportant, a waste of time, and something you won't be interested in hearing about.

4) You have difficulty understanding the representative's explanation of the service or contract.

5) Contract discussions seem to go round and round and never end. Also, they'll fight hard to keep you from going home to think about it.

6) The agent avoids answering your basic questions of what the total cost will be and diverts your attention to something positive.

7) You get an employee who claims they're on your side or state they're an expert in the field.

8) You observe a business taking advantage of helpless people such as young children, consumers where English isn't their native language, foreigners with limited knowledge or education, people who haven't completed much schooling, individuals suffering from physical or mental disabilities, and senior citizens. Just remember, if an offer seems unbelievable, it probably is.

Are you a Christian with debt problems? Become debt free with these Christian debt solutions or through Christian debt advice resources. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robby_Thomas