GAP insurance is something that I recommend if you’re buying a new vehicle. The purpose of gap insurance is to cover the “gap” between your auto loan and the vehicle’s true value if your vehicle gets totaled in an accident. Without gap insurance, you’re still liable for any deficiency that owed on the loan, despite the fact your insurance company pays for the vehicle damage. Gap insurance is a smart investment.

Unfortunately for David Stanley, or more appropriately, Safe-Guard Products International, L.L.C., they banked on the fact that their “binding” arbitration agreement in the auto purchase contract also applied to the GAP insurance transaction. Id. at 3. The buyer, Harris, argued that the two transactions were separate, to which the Oklahoma Supreme Court agreed. Id. at 9. Quite simply, the Court found:

The trial court, viewing the purchase agreement and the insurance contract executed three days after the purchase of the car, determined there was no continuity of contract. The contract for the sale of the vehicle refers to “this sale or transaction, including but not limited to any and all issues or disputes arising as a result of this sale or transaction.” There is nothing in this language indicating the future purchase of “GAP” insurance. It is uncontroverted that the two contracts involve two separate subjects, executed on different dates, and the arbitration clause in the purchase agreement does not mention or reference GAP insurance or any relationship between the two contracts.

I generally don’t favor arbitration clauses. I think arbitration, especially as conducted under the rules of the American Arbitration Association, is costly, ineffective and downright hurtful to consumers. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court of the United States, feels that it’s in the “best interest” of business consumers to “protect” the mandatory arbitration clauses in contracts, and to the extent of promoting mediation or other alternative dispute resolution methods, I agree.

What Harris shows us though is that it’s going to be very important to read contracts thoroughly for subtle nuances. Harris survived because the contracts at issue were separate and distinct, and not contemplated in the whole. Think about the detrimental effect of having a single, binding agreement in this case. In fact, this case sets up a perfect bad faith action (you might view this too) against Safe-Guard.

It’s certainly important for you to discover what the issues are, and where you stand on them. There’s a big battle in California over Prop 8, and there’s an even bigger battle for the White House. Take some time out of your "busy" schedule and vote.

I realize that your "one vote" probably doesn’t matter in the vast scheme of the Presidential election, but your one vote does matter on a local level. You’re never going to speak with the President of the United States about the things that affect your daily life, but you can easily speak to your city and state representatives, and encourage their action.

Finally, I don’t care who you vote for, as long as you tell our Oklahoma Senators and Congressmembers you’re dissatisfied with their handling of the $700 billion bailout package. Here’s how our delegation voted:

Senators
Jim Inhofe (R) – NO
Tom Coburn (R) – YES

Representatives
Tom Cole (R) – YES
Mary Fallin (R) – YES
John Sullivan (R) – YES
Dan Boren (D) – YES
Frank Lucas (R) – NO

If they voted yes, I’d recommend their opponent or writing in your best friend. I recognize the logistics and the importance of handling the bailout measure in a particular way. However, the crux of this measure is designed to line someone’s pockets, and hardly makes those accepting funds accountable for their actions (see also here, here, and here to educate yourself).

If you’re still not educated enough about the issues or people running, I’m sorry. There’s not much I can do, but to send you here, here and here for the Oklahoma information. One thing I wish we did better in Oklahoma, is to send out information to registered voters regarding the upcoming election.

If your student is the victim of school bullying, please contact us.

There's this story from ABC News that discusses some of the issues we're facing, and the outrage over the financial bailouts. I'm especially grateful this article discusses the effect increased interest rates are having on the economy and people's budgets.

I get that you've made a commitment to pay your bills on time and all that jazz. If we didn't enforce those provisions, then we'd be in anarchy and the rule of law doesn't apply. What I don't get is why so many companys are so unwilling to offer assistance to borrowers. Moreover, why does our Congress permit this type of behavior.

Here's what my "open letter to Congress" (state and federal) looks like:

Dear Congressman/woman:

I'm sick of having all of my funds piled to help failing and dishonest companies like AIG, FannieMae, Washington Mutual, FreddieMac, and Bank of America, when I'm refused assistance in my own matters. I'm tired of hearing that you and your colleagues are more forgiving to these businesses than you are to your own constituents.

Each session you fail to implement stricter consumer protection statutes that will protect my neighbors and family from deceptive practices. I get that it's not my money that's paying for your junkets to Aspen or your membership at the country club. However, it's my money and my future you're spending to support bad behavior.

It's quite discouraging for me to know that my finances are being used to support bad decisions, yet when my "bad decision" results in a payment being missed by one day, I'm punished with a two or three times interest rate increase.

So, despite my best efforts, I continue to struggle, while others get a perceived reward. I can't complain though because if you'll approve the President's budget, I'll have $635 billion dollars you'll put toward universal healthcare. Can you tell me which bank that's going to be deposited in?

Sincerely,

Me

While I have no ambitions that things will change, we can at least hope for some of the bonuses talked about in the ABC article. However, as is often the case, these things rarely have the "bite" to make any difference, they only make us feel better.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oklahoma City – January 20, 2012 Henry and Carrie Holeman, the parents of a 14 year-old student at Oklahoma City Public Schools’ John Marshall Mid-High School filed an Amended Complaint on Tuesday in Federal Court in Oklahoma City. The Complaint alleges charges of bullying against students at John Marshall Mid-High School, and claims against the Oklahoma City Public School District for failure to protect the Holeman’s daughter while she attended the school.

On October 18, 2011, the Holemans’ daughter was the victim of a school bus attack that stemmed from months of bullying and harassment. Several middle school-age students ganged up to attack the Holemans’ daughter as she exited from the school bus. The Complaint alleges that the bus driver intervened to stop the attack, but ended up assaulting the Holemans’ daughter and Henry Holeman.

The Oklahoma City Public School District denied the allegations in prior filings in the case. The school district denies that it has any responsibility for the students’ actions, and that the bus driver acted outside her responsibilities when she assaulted Henry Holeman and his daughter.

The Holemans’ attorney, Jeffrey Taylor, stated, “this is a tragic series of events that the school district and John Marshall, had an opportunity to stop, but chose to ignore the situation. We believe this lawsuit will act as a reminder to school districts that they need to protect our children.”

Oklahoma City Public School District stated that they do not comment on pending litigation.

The Holemans’ lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $250,000.00.

According to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control, 25% of high schools reported some incident of bullying at least once per week. Federal laws require schools to take action and provide resources for students and victims of bullying. If the schools tolerate, encourage, or dismiss the acts of bullying or harassment, the school may violate a student’s civil rights.

Students being bullied or harassed tend to withdraw or begin having issues with discipline and grades. Children may believe they caused the bullying or deserve the harassment. To get more information about bullying and its risks, visit stopbullying.gov.

If you believe your child is the victim of school bullying, seek help immediately.

Wikipedia has started a revolution against the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA (here’s the EFF’s take) (it’s Senate sister is PIPA), that is making it’s way through the United States Congress.

In protest of the legislation, Wikipedia’s English site is “blacked out” for 24 hours today. This is significant, especially considering the impact of Wikipedia and its contributions to the internet. In fact, legal tech-guru, Ben Schorr, recently called Wikipedia one of the five most valuable Internet contributions to mankind. I agree whole-heartedly agree.

SOPA and PIPA, as they are currently situated before Congress, will hurt the internet.

While I believe something needs to be done to protect the IP interests of “creative” people, I also believe that there are far-better ways than the unrestricted and out-right censorship of many innocent people.

I think ultimately, as always, bad bills will fail. However, it’s up to everyone to make sure it does. You can “take action” by signing this petition through Google, and by contacting your Senator or Representative, I did. Wikipedia’s site makes it easy.

You can read more about my take on SOPA here.

Note: this is repost from my blog, thedroidlawyer.com.

I encourage you to take a minute and visit thekingcenter.org to learn about this Great American.

In conjunction with National Preparedness Month, the Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security is encouraging people to get involved and "Make Red Dirt Ready." The OKOHS encourages you to do three things:

1. Gather an Emergency Kit and Supplies
2. Make a Plan on How Your Family Will Respond to an Emergency
3. Be Informed about Common Emergencies in your Area

The OKOHS hopes that by following these steps, you'll have a better understanding of how to protect and prepare yourself and family for an emergency. 

You may want to take a look at this site, with information about how you can win a tornado shelter. Also, you may want to participate in the "Map Your Neighborhood" program. This is an interesting concept aimed at getting you involved with your neighbors in preparing your neighborhoods for a disaster. There is a 2 hour training session on September 25 at 1:00, for those interested in getting ready.

This is good news for those of us living here. We’ll see drastic improvements within the next few years, not only in business, but also in our housing markets.

Also interesting, is the fact that only 6 west-coast cities made the top 50, and no cities in Nevada ranked higher than 75. This is good news for our midwestern/mountain states, as people flock from these overpriced areas to the soothing evirons of our great state.