The Attorney General has made consumer fraud prevention a top priority. The current economic downturn and housing crisis have given rise to many scams, particularly in the areas of predatory lending, foreclosure consultants, credit repair companies, and debt consolidators and collectors.

In response, the Attorney General is taking action against companies engaged in unlawful activities, obtaining injunctions to shut them down, and recovering millions of dollars in restitution for victimized consumers. The Attorney General cannot provide you with legal advice or represent you in personal legal actions but there are ways you can resolve your complaint on your own.

• Keep records of all relevant documents and make copies to be used in resolving your dispute.
• Contact the company you have an issue with, and if your matter is not resolved right away, follow up with a letter, always keeping the original copy for your records.
• You can take your dispute to small claims court. In California, Small Claims Court allows disputes of up to $5,000 to be brought before a judge for quick resolution, but you cannot appeal the outcome. You and the defendant must present your own legal arguments so be prepared to devote some time and effort to the case.
• You can go to a mediator who focuses on having the parties talk to each other to come to a resolution. Many communities have dispute resolution centers and other low-cost mediation services available.
• Arbitration is another lower-cost alternative to filing a lawsuit. Like mediation, arbitration hearings are not held in courtrooms, but the decision of the arbitrator is legally binding and may be enforced the same as a court judgment. In arbitration, you can use a lawyer or represent yourself in hearings.
• You can consult an attorney and file a lawsuit against the business.

The legal services provided by the Law Offices of Delsack & Associates are FREE to you for personal injury cases and in most lemon law cases. With 22 years of California law experience, we will fight for you! Therefore, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by making only one toll free call to our offices at 888-395-3666 or completing and submitting our Lemon Law or Personal Injury questionnaires.