Consumer Rights

The clinic's student legal interns have the opportunity to represent clients on a broad range of consumer issues including seeking bankruptcy relief and enforcing the protections of federal and state consumer credit legislation. Without assistance from interns, these clients, who are frequently individuals with a disability or retired, would not be able to recover from the financial disruption caused by the unanticipated expenses or the practices of their creditors.

Consumer law is an eye-opener for the interns. Imagine an intern's surprise when she learned a local bank had arranged a bogus sale of an automobile to a client and also talked the client into assuming her roommate's liability on a credit card. When the roommate who still held the title to the car returned to Iowa for the car, the client was left without transportation and faced an $18,000 collection action by the bank. With assistance from the interns, the client was relieved of liability on both debts.