Class Actions.  Do they apply to me?

Contracts and Agreements.

We finance purchases — a home mortgage, a car loan, student loans, or everyday items we charge on credit cards. The agreements for these purchases are very long and hard to understand. Corporations and financial institutions often do not live up to their contractual obligations. Some may charge more than what the law permits, believing that no customer will be willing to or have the resources to challenge their actions.

Consumer Fraud.

Consumer products are often represented to be one thing but are actually quite another. Consumer fraud is a term that describes any intentionally deceptive act, statement or practice that harms consumers. Consumer fraud occurs in many industries and businesses.

Banking and Lending Practices.

Sometimes banks, credit card companies and mortgage lenders take advantage of consumers to increase their profits.  They often collect funds they did not earn.  Even though consumer protection laws are designed to stop this abuse, some banks and lending institutions violate them.

ERISA.

FDPK lawyers have successfully fought ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) cases throughout the United States.  These cases involve violations by those who are placed in trust of funds belonging to others (fiduciaries) who terminate or modify benefits.  We regularly litigate cases related to individual disability, and health, pension and 401(k) claims.

Insurance.

Although people rely on insurance companies for protection of their homes and automobiles, for healthcare and life insurance, and to provide retirement savings, sometimes insurance companies lie about their coverage or policy benefit to get people to get them to purchase their policies but then do not honor those agreements.

A class action can make a difference.

When one individual comes forward to bring a lawsuit on behalf of a group of people who have been harmed in the same manner, companies are forced to do the right thing.  Taking on large companies can be difficult or impossible for one person.  FDPK’s class action attorneys fight large companies and corporations.

Contact FDPK lawyers if you have concerns such as:

• I worked for a heavy machinery manufacturer for 30 years.  I was a union member.  We fought hard for our health benefits through collective bargaining.  Our contract with the company said that when we retired the company would pay our pensions and healthcare benefits for life. Now, the company says it can’t pay them anymore.  This isn’t right. That’s not what we agreed to, and that’s not what I worked 30 years for.  Can anything be done to help me?
• We are a young, health-conscious family.  We exercise and play sports to stay active.  We like to buy organic and all-natural groceries for our family because we want to eat healthy, unprocessed foods.  We just learned that some of the products we’ve been buying contain chemical additives, preservatives, and synthetic flavoring agents.  We only buy items that say “All Natural” on the label and are willing to pay more to buy them, and feel like we’ve been lied to.  Is there that anything we can do?
• We’re a family with two young children. Last year, we bought our first home.  After the first year, our homeowner’s policy expired. The bank told us that we needed to get new homeowner’s insurance, or else the bank would purchase a new policy and charge us for it.  We did find new insurance before the bank’s deadline, but the bank bought a new policy and charged us for a more expensive policy.  What can we do?

Partners Joe Kravec and Jim Pietz lead the firm’s class action practice and they, or a member of the class action team, would be pleased to evaluate your potential claim.