Consumer Protection

         Various state and federal laws grant consumers protection from unfair or deceptive business acts and false and misleading advertising. Strange & Carpenter has been a leader in bringing class actions on behalf of consumers for over 13 years. Recently, Strange & Carpenter have filed actions against many of the major credit card providers including Citibank, Chase Manhattan Bank, Bank of America, First Union, Direct Merchants, Household Bank, Capital One Bank and others, based on the credit card company's practices of charging consumers one extra day's finance charges. Most of these cases have settled with payments to the class members and changes in the way the banks post payments. Strange & Carpenter is also currently pursuing cases based on over the limit fees charged by numerous banks and institutions. Strange & Carpenter is currently prosecuting numerous claims against workers' compensation carriers for improperly inflating premiums to California employers in the early 1990's. Many of these cases have settled with reimbursements to the employers and changes in the way claims are reported. Some of Strange & Carpenter's current consumer protection cases are listed under Current Cases.