Exam 48: The Federal Trade Commission Act and Consumer Protection Laws

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act's (ECOA's)provisions apply only in the consumer credit setting but not in the commercial credit context.

Amy Ames applied for a loan at Local State Bank.Three weeks later,she received notice from Local State that her application had been denied.Ames later learned,from a reliable source,that the bank denied her application because a credit report on her stated that she had filed for bankruptcy three times.Ames contends this statement in the credit report is untrue.What can she do?

Which of the following would keep the Truth in Lending Act (TILA)from applying to a transaction?

In his April 2011 credit card bill,Shawn noticed an entry for $1,179 paid by him to a resort on the west coast.Shawn lives in Montpelier,Vermont and claims he last traveled to the west coast almost two years back.In May 2011,he gave a written notice of the alleged error in the billing statement to his credit card issuer.Assume that the credit card issuer has failed to comply with the rules of the Fair Credit Billing Act.Under this Act,how much of the disputed amount can the issuer collect from Shawn?

The FDCPA requires a collector to give a debtor certain information about the debt:

The ________ Act is not limited to consumer credit;it also covers business and commercial loans.

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)requires creditors to notify applicants in how many days of a decision on credit request?

Which of the following prohibits credit discrimination on the bases of sex,marital status,age,race,color,national origin,religion,and the obtaining of income from public assistance?

An order commanding the respondent to cease engaging in the deceptive or unfair conduct is the usual penalty that results from a successful FTC adjudicative proceeding.

The ________ appoints the Federal Trade Commission's commissioners.

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT)Act was a 2003 amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act that aided victims of identity theft.

The Telemarketing Sales Rule defines ________ as "a plan,program,or campaign which is conducted to induce the purchase of goods or services by use of one or more telephones and which involves more than one interstate telephone call."

A credit card issuer that fails to comply with the Fair Credit Billing Act forfeits its right to collect $50 of the disputed amount from the cardholder.

European Union (EU)countries depend more on litigation instituted by private parties as the chief legal means of dealing with misleading advertising.In this sense,the approach taken by EU nations resembles advertising regulation in the United States under:

To prove deception of a consumer under Section 5 of the FTC Act,it is not important if the consumer was acting reasonably when they were taken advantage of.

Which of the following statements about Section 5 of the FTC Act and anticompetitive behavior is false?

What is the term for the source containing the FTC's interpretation of the laws it administers?

Beginning in 1998 and continuing until August 1,2003,Aromatic Co.promoted the sale of its Essence of Terre Haute (ETH)brand perfume by encouraging ETH buyers to save the proof of purchase seals on ETH labels.Consumers with at least 25 proofs of purchase seals could redeem them for fabulous prizes.This promotion caused the sales of ETH since 1998 to be well in excess of ETH sales levels from 1993 through 1998.In a nationally televised announcement on August 1,2003,Aromatic stated that it was ceasing the proof of purchase program and that effective immediately,no more proof of purchase seals would be accepted for redemption.This left millions of ETH buyers with worthless proof of purchase seals,many of which came from bottles of ETH purchased within one week before Aromatic's August 1 announcement.Assume that the Federal Trade Commission has brought an adjudicative proceeding against Aromatic on the theory that the August 1 announcement (and the underlying decision to halt the program without giving consumers a reasonable period of time within which to redeem their seals)constituted an unfair practice in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act.Aromatic argues,in defense,that its August 1 announcement was easily understandable and contained no deceptive statements.It also argues that the elements of unfairness are not present here.Analyze and evaluate Aromatic's arguments.

In recent years,the FTC has encouraged companies that provide Internet browsers to offer a ________ system under which consumers can choose not to have their Internet use traced by third parties.

E.Z.Pickens owes a past-due consumer debt of $1,335 to the Needless Markup Department Store.Needless Markup retained Relentless Collection Agency,Inc.(RCA)to collect the debt.RCA employees were unable to locate Pickens so they asked his friends and his brother (Slim)about his whereabouts.When Pickens still had not been found,an RCA employee contacted Pickens's employer and asked how to locate him.Eventually,as a result of these inquiries,an RCA employee made contact with Pickens.Pickens contends that RCA violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.Is he correct?