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The Law On Fine PrintPerhaps the most interesting conclusion the court made about Broder’s charges involved a literal discussion of the term small print. Some of MBNA’s contract language about how it would allocate payments was—literally—in small print. And New York had a law about jamming weasel words in tiny type. The court cited state law which said:
Although the statute referred to evidence admissibility in trials, its purpose was to make such contract provisions unenforceable. The relevant language about payment allocation contained in the MBNA’s solicitations was smaller than the required eight-point type. The court also allowed the deceptive practices claim to go forward; but it did throw out the fraud charge essentially for being redundant to the others. And the court certified Broder’s lawsuit for class action status. Anyone who’d taken a cash advance or transferred a balance from MBNA during the same period could join him. The ruling was a substantial loss for MBNA, which promptly began negotiating a settlement with Broder. Next: Guard Against ID Theft |
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