Categories | Lawsuits & Litigation Article

Senate Bill 5 Will Limit Consumer Rights

February 1st, 2017 • Lawsuits & Litigation • 2 minute read
Article Image
Author Sara E. Teller

Senate Bill 5 Will Limit Consumer Rights

An average consumer believes that the legal system will protect him or her if a suit needs to be filed against a company for wrongdoing.  Consumer rights and the ability of an individual to enter into a class action is one that seems almost inherent in our world today with these suits popping up all the time, calling companies out on shady practices. Businesses, put simply, should do the right thing.  The products and services a consumer receives should be up to par.  And, when there are mishaps, they should be held accountable.  Consumers believe they deserve to take action in these instances.  However, a proposal going to Senate on Monday could change all that, according to The Consumers Council of Missouri.

Image Courtesy of The Missouri TimesImage Courtesy of The Missouri Times

The Consumers Council is warning that the proposal would limit the ability for civilians to fight back even in important, potentially life-altering circumstances, such as improper vehicle repossession or unwarranted home foreclosure.  We'll see an increase in falsified credit reporting and likely a spike in handing out shady pay day loans.  Spencer says there are already limited regulations in place in the state of Missouri, with almost laughable measures to control pay day lending.  Studies have shown that 11 percent of Missouri residents are already taken advantage of in these deals.  Passing Senate Bill 5 will mean an inevitable increase in this number.The consumer rights group has historically relied on the efforts of former Democratic head of state Jay Nixon to veto such legislative measures.  Nixon took care to ensure many of these measures did not make it to the bank.  However, with the state's new governor, Eric Greitens, in office, things are only expected to get worse.  Much to Spencer and her fellow Council members' chagrin, Greitens has made loosening business regulations one of his top priorities.  The governor and his supporters contend that needless class action lawsuits are weighing down businesses.  Spencer counters that this number is at best less than 100 per year, while shady businesses are filing 1000 of cases in the state every year.

Sources:

Consumer group critical of bill in legislature to restrict liability lawsuitsSpencer named new executive director of Consumers Council of Missouri
Sara E. Teller

About Sara E. Teller

Sara is a credited freelance writer, editor, contributor, and essayist, as well as a novelist and poet with nearly twenty years of experience. A seasoned publishing professional, she's worked for newspapers, magazines and book publishers in content digitization, editorial, acquisitions and intellectual property. Sara has been an invited speaker at a Careers in Publishing & Authorship event at Michigan State University and a Reading and Writing Instructor at Sylvan Learning Center. She has an MBA degree with a concentration in Marketing and an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, graduating with a 4.2/4.0 GPA. She is also a member of Chi Sigma Iota and a 2020 recipient of the Donald D. Davis scholarship recognizing social responsibility. Sara is certified in children's book writing, HTML coding and social media marketing. Her fifth book, PTSD: Healing from the Inside Out, was released in September 2019 and is available on Amazon. You can find her others books there, too, including Narcissistic Abuse: A Survival Guide, released in December 2017.

Related Articles