Fingerhut Informative - Truth In Lending Laws-Violations - Lending

Posted by Anonymous on 2007-05-23:

Sorry you were taken by these guys. Fingerhut has been "sticking" it to people for a long time. I can't understand why they have not been fined. There are so many complaints about them everywhere.

Posted by Pomona Guy on 2007-05-23:

Are you a lawyer? If not, you shouldn't be giving legal advice.

Posted by LAWHEAD on 2007-05-23:

Look up the Act on the Internet! READ IT! Any Judge will find in your favor, if you could ever get the owners to Court. Try to contact Figerhut by Phone, all you get is Robots.

The Federal Truth in Lending Act, Enforced by the F.D.I.C. States that any business that sells products on time payments, must state the interest rates on each of those products. Fingerhut does not do that, in their catolog.

Violating the Truth in Lending Act, can make the sale viodable, leads to fines, and in some cases Jail. It is time a Class action suit, be brought against this Company. Before other companys do the same thing.

Who caused the Federal Truth in lending Act to become Law was SEARS. Sears used to advertise all their big ticket products with just so much a month, they didn't even show the price, and certainly not the interest rates. It was one big Con. They would show 15 dollars a month or 20, but no price or interest rates.

Example how they would sell Sewing machines to mainly Women. They first would set the woman down to a 1200 dollar sewing machine desk, and the lady would ask how much is this, the salesman would say 15 dollars a month, could you afford 15 dollars a month on your SRC (Sears Revoling Charge Card) oh yes I could, Then the salesman would say, would you like to trade in your old sewing machine, we will give you 40 dollars off, she would say yes. Now the desk came with a chair, but if they gave her 40 dollars for the old machine, they would take away the chair. They then would say when did you want delivery, never even asking her to buy the machine. When you go to Sears, they alway have 2 or 3 models, so they can bate and switch you. You certainly don't want the Air Conditioner that has one speed. All I can say is, "Let the Buyer Beware"!

Posted by bill on 2007-05-23:

I didn't know the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (F.D.I.C.) had the authority to enforce laws.

Posted by *Brenda* on 2007-05-23:

MCL 600.916: "A person shall not practice law or engage in the law business, shall not in any manner whatsoever lead others to believe that he or she is authorized to practice law or to engage in the law business, and shall not in any manner whatsoever represent or designate himself or herself as an attorney and counselor, attorney at law, or lawyer, unless the person is regularly licensed and authorized to practice law in this state. A person who violates this section is guilty of contempt of the supreme court and of the circuit court of the county in which the violation occurred, and upon conviction is punishable as provided by law. This section does not apply to a person who is duly licensed and authorized to practice law in another state while temporarily in this state and engaged in a particular matter."

So, ARE YOU A LAWYER Lawhead? Doubt it! I'd quit giving legal advice if I were you before it bites you in the butt. BTW, This is NOT legal advice. :-p

Posted by Starlord on 2007-05-23:

We used to be customers of Fingerhut some years ago. we finally got out of their clutches when they stated we had ordered a bunch of camping equipment and then didn't pay for it. I was, for all intents and purposes was an invalid, and there is no way we would have ordered camping equipment. As we knew how hard it is to disprove a negative, we paid the account off. I heard that Fingerhut had gone out of business, and had heard nothing from or about them until just recently, when we began getting catalogs from them aqain. The catalogs go immediately into file 13. We can buy the same stuff as Fingerhut offers for about 1/3 the price at our local Wal-Mart. We don't need Fingerhuts lousy service and usurious rates.

Posted by LAWHEAD on 2007-05-23:

Brenda READ IT!


General Information

The Truth in Lending Act and Advertising

The main purpose of the Truth in Lending Act is to assure the meaningful disclosure of consumer credit and lease terms, including those in advertisements, so that consumers can easily compare terms and shop wisely for credit.


Before passage of the Act, an advertiser might have used only the most attractive credit or lease terms, thus distorting the true cost of the credit or lease. For example, an advertisement might have read, "'63 Chevy, only $30 per month." Whether this is a bargain depends upon information missing from the advertisement, such as the downpayment and the number of payments. The ad also omits the annual percentage rate and does not state whether the transaction is a credit sale or a lease. The Act requires that the advertisement tell the whole story.


For example, if an advertisement contains any of a number of terms specified in the Act, then that advertisement must also include certain prescribed disclosures. In other words, the specified terms "trigger" the disclosures. If, on the other hand, the ad does not use "triggering" terms, it need not make the disclosures. The type of transaction you advertise—closed-end credit, open-end credit, or a consumer lease—determines whether a term is a "triggering term" and, if so, what disclosures are required.


If you, as an advertiser, are unclear about what type of plan is being advertised, or about any of the specific terms of the plan — including the annual percentage rate—you may want to contact the creditor directly to obtain this information. This may help ensure that the credit terms you advertise are accurate.


Who Must Comply

If you place an advertisement that promotes "consumer credit" or a "consumer lease" as defined in the Act, you must comply with the law. Thus, advertisers, not just creditors and lessors, must comply, including associations, manufacturers, real estate brokers, builders, and government agencies.


There is no liability under the Act for the media in which advertisements appear. The media can, however, protect their customers by screening advertisements to make sure that they comply with the law.

Oral Rate Disclosures

Certain rules apply only to creditors. If a consumer orally asks you, a creditor, about the cost of credit, you must state the annual percentage rate. For closed-end credit, you also may give a periodic or simple interest rate that is applied to an unpaid balance. For open-end credit, once you state the APR, you also may give the periodic rate.


If you cannot determine the annual percentage rate for the specific closed-end credit that the consumer asks you about, you may disclose instead the annual percentage rate in a sample transaction. You also may give other information that applies to the consumer's specific transaction, such as the contract interest rates and points.

Liability for Violations

If you fail to comply with the advertising requirements of the Act, you may be subject to law enforcement actions. Advertisers of consumer credit and consumer leases under the FTC's jurisdiction are subject to enforcement actions that could result in remedies such as:

Orders issued by the FTC to cease and desist from violating the Act. Subsequent violations of the FTC order may result in a civil penalty of up to $11,000 for each day the violation continues; or,
Injunctions issued by federal district courts against future violations. Violations of court-ordered injunctions may result in civil or criminal contempt proceedings.

If you are under the jurisdiction of a federal regulatory agency other than the FTC, you may wish to consult with that agency to determine your liability for placing a credit or lease advertisement that fails to comply with the law.


In addition, anyone actually harmed by a non-complying consumer lease advertisement may sue you for:

actual damages;
25% of the total amount of monthly payments under the lease (but not less than $100 nor more than $1,000); and
court costs and a reasonable attorney's fee.

Posted by *Brenda* on 2007-05-23:

yellowcanary, you have issues. I don't hate customers; I don't even work in retail.

Lawhead, YOU CAN'T POST LEGAL ADVICE WHEN YOU AREN'T A LAWYER. What part of that don't you understand? Furthermore, it is BAD legal advice.

Posted by poppapia on 2007-05-24:

The FDIC is one of several federal agencies that are responsible for enforcing monetary regulation; it depends on who is the primary regulator for a specific bank, which may, or may not, be the FDIC. However, an individual can not arbitrarily cancel a contract due to a TIL violation, but can seek legal relief from this obligation, which, in most cases, does not erase the debt, but merely cites and fines the lending institution.

Posted by LAWHEAD on 2007-05-24:

This case is now in the hands of the F.D.I.C.

Posted by *Brenda* on 2007-05-24:

yellowcanary, you say that to everyone. Plus you are the one calling me a "B*tch" and calling others pricks so I think you need to take a good look in the mirror before calling others rude.

Posted by Starlord on 2007-05-25:

Sorry, poppapia. Lawhead, the FDIC, or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has nothing at all that I am aware of in enforcing any laws concerning truth in lending. What the FDIC does is to insure monies deposited in bank accounts. The FDIC insures bank asccountsup to $100,000, so that if the bank, for some reason, were to fail, like back in the 30's, the FDIC will replace any monies in accounts up to $100,000. The FDIC couldn't care less about truth in lending or advertising or playing mumbly-peg.

Posted by poppapia on 2007-05-25:

starlord, you are wrong. The FDIC does have an enforcement division, which are responsible for financial institutions that have state charters.

Posted by breathoffreshair on 2007-06-20:

okay well, this post started with a nasty description of law.
1.) lawhead, brenda is right, your not a lawyer don't post legal stuff.
2.) you interpretation of the law is clearly from a consumer perspective, and not from the perspective of a government with free market.

Fingerhut does not have to plast each page of the catalog with their interest rates. When opening the account you agree to the terms and conditions of the acct.

if they were in violation there would be much larger fish to fry. .

do you walk into macy's and see the interest rate on all merchandise? no.

fact is, fingerhut credit isn't the only way tto shop, and once you agree to the terms and conditions of the acct that's it. . .it's not like they don't tell you.

so shut up, your annoying.

Posted by breathoffreshair on 2007-06-29:

p.s. I got a hold of one of the fingerhut catalogs. . . after every price and product description is an asterix, the asterix at the bottom of the page then tells you to turn to another page, which starts talking about the terms and conditions, and finished on another page ( also referred). . .so what it looks like to me mr. lawhead, is maybe you should try to get the head first and do the research before you do the legal side of it and finally- don't even come back with making a comment that it is hardto find all that information- you're and i am and we are all the consumers, consumers have responsibilities too. . . not just the business.