Question | Answer |
Annual Percentage Rate (APR) | The true rate of interest on a loan. |
Bait-and Switch Confidence Game | An illegal promotional practice in which a seller attracts consumers by promoting a product (bait) that he or she does not intend to sell and then directs the consumers' attention to a higher-priced product (switch). |
Balloon Payment | A large final payment on a mortage that has relatively low fixed payments during the life of the mortgage. |
Buyer's Guide | A window sticker that is required by the Federal Trade Commission Act to be placed in the window of each used car offered for sale by a used car dealer. It discloses the warranties that are made with the sale of the car and consumer protection info. |
Can Spam Act | A federal law designed to reduce the use of unsolicited email, commonly known as spam, on the internet. |
Class-Action Lawsuit | A lawsuit that is brought by one or more plaintiffs on behalf of a class of persons. |
Commerce | Trade among the several states or between any foreign country and any state or territory. |
Consent Order | Under the Federal Trade Commission Act, an order under which a company agrees to stop a disputed practice without necessarily admitting that the practice violated the law. |
Consumer | Somone who buys or leases real estate, goods, or services for personal, family, or household purposes. |
Cooling-Off Rule | A Federal Trade Commission rule under which sales of consumer goods or services over $25 made away from the seller's regular place of business may be canceled within three business days after the sale occurs. |
Dunning Letter | A letter representing payment for goods. |
Finance Charge | The actual cost of the loan in dollars and cents. |
Interstate Commerce | Business activities that touch more than one state. |
Intrastate Commerce | Business activites that have no out-of-state connections. |
Slamming | The illegal practice of changing a consumer's telephone service without permission. |
Spam | Unsolicited e-mail. |
Used Car Rule | A rule established by the Federal Trade Commission requiring used car delears to place a sticker, called a Buyer's Guide, in the window of each used car they offer for sale. The sticker provides consumer protection information. |
Cancellation Form | Under the Federal Trade Commission's Cooling-Off Rule, a document that can be filled out to terminate an order for consumer goods or services made at the buyer's home for consumer goods or services valued at $25 or more. |
Continuity Plan | In sales law, an arrangement by which the seller of goods ships the goods to the subscriber on a regular basis without first sending an anouncement of the upcoming delevery. |
Mail and Telephone Order Rule | The Federal Trade Commission rule that states that sellers must ship orders within the time promised in their advertisements. |
Product Liability | A law that imposes liability on the manufacture and the seller of a product produced and sold in a defective condition. |
Public Interest | The idea that certain activities affect the entire social structure and must, therefore, be regulated by the government. |
Public Policy | The general legal principle that says no one should be allowed to do anything that tends to injure the public at large. |
Strict Liability | The doctrine under which people may be liable for injuries to others whether or not they have been negligent or committed an international tort. (Also called Absolute Liability.) |