Consumer Transactions: Movement Toward a More Progressive Approach

Abstract

As a general observation, the preceding year was not particularly good for consumers in the Indiana legislature and courts. While consumers scored a few victories in individual lawsuits, they were of minor importance to the legal community at large. Indiana continues to be a state in which consumer rights are not aggressively protected by statute or court decisions when compared with the progressive consumer movements in other states. Nevertheless, the state witnessed a few important consumer developments in the last year. Several court decisions are worth noting not only for their resolution and application of substantive legal issues, but also as a study of how judges interpret consumer statutes and contracts, whether they look to the language of the text alone or extend the inquiry to other contextual factors. There were some significant legislative and regulatory developments as well. This Article highlights selected developments in five areas: (1) sales of goods and services to consumers, (2) debt collection practices, (3) short term or "payday" loans, (4) telecommunications, and (5) secured transactions under Revised Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code.