Download or read book Readable Consumer Contracts written by N. J. C. Van den Bergh and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Duty to Read the Unreadable written by Uri Benoliel and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The duty to read doctrine is a well-recognized building block of U.S. contract law. Under this doctrine, contracting parties are held responsible for the written terms of their contract, whether or not they actually read them. The application of the duty to read is especially interesting in the context of consumer contracts, which consumers generally do not read. Under U.S. law, courts routinely impose this doctrine on consumers. However, the application of this doctrine to consumer contracts is unilateral. While consumers are expected and presumed to read their contracts, suppliers are generally not required to offer readable contracts. This asymmetry creates a serious public policy challenge. Put simply, consumers might be expected to read contracts that are, in fact, rather unreadable. This, in turn, undermines market efficiency and raises fairness concerns. Many scholars have suggested that consumer contracts are indeed written in a way that dissuades consumers from reading them. This Article aims to empirically test whether this concern is justified. The Article focuses on the readability of an important and prevalent type of consumer agreement: the sign-in-wrap contract. Such contracts, which have already been the focal point of many legal battles, are routinely accepted by consumers when signing up for popular websites such as Facebook, Amazon, Uber, and Airbnb. The Article applies well-established linguistic readability tests to the 500 most popular websites in the U.S. that use sign-in-wrap agreements. The results of this Article indicate, inter alia, that the average readability level of these agreements is comparable to the usual score of articles in academic journals, which typically do not target the general public. These disturbing empirical findings hence have significant implications on the design of consumer contract law.
Download or read book The Myth of the opportunity to Read in Contract Law written by Omri Ben-Shahar and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Standard form contracts in consumer transactions are usually not read by consumers. This 'unreadness' of contracts creates opportunities for drafters to engage in unfair trade practices. Various doctrines of contracts and consumer protection law address this concern. One of the prominent solutions coming out of recent proposals for reform is to give individuals a more substantial opportunity to read the contract before manifesting assent. With the greater opportunity to read, more transactors will actually read the terms and assent to the boilerplate will be more 'robust.' This Essay argues that solutions that focus on providing consumers an opportunity to read are useless, and can potentially be harmful. Most likely, greater opportunity to read would not produce greater readership of contracts - not the type that can help people make informed decisions - and the purpose of this solution would not be achieved, and could have unintended consequences. Even if the compliance with the requirement of opportunity-to-read is fairly cheap (e.g., giving consumers access to the boilerplate in advance), making this a central feature of the legal regulation of standard form contracts makes little sense. The paper ends by proposing non-legal approaches to making the contract terms more transparent, by building on market devices such as ratings and labeling.
Download or read book Plain language Consumer Contracts a Benefit for Consumers and Business Alike written by Alberta. Alberta Consumer and Corporate Affairs and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 7 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Plain Words for Consumers written by Richard Thomas and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Plain language Consumer Contracts written by Alberta. Alberta Consumer and Corporate Affairs and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 7 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many problems occur because consumers do not read the contracts they sign, or if they do read them, they do not always understand them. This document provides a definition of a contract, and plain language. It also explains how plain language will benefit consumers and business, and specifies the cost to revise contracts.
Download or read book Unfair Contract Terms in the Digital Age written by Gardiner, Caterina and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2022-06-14 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the introduction of the European Unfair Contract Terms Directive (UCTD) there have been far-reaching developments in the digital landscape which have significantly altered the nature of consumer contracts. This timely book examines the changes that have taken place since the advent of the UCTD and analyses the challenges that they pose for consumers entering online standard form contracts today.
Download or read book Fairness in Consumer Contracts written by Chris Willett and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-12-05 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on unfair contract terms in consumer contracts, in particular the existing legislation and the proposals by the Law Commissions for a new unified regime. In this context it considers, in particular, what we mean by fairness (both procedurally and in substance); the tools used; the European dimension; the move from general principles from the more piecemeal approach typical in UK legal tradition; and the further move in this direction as a result of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive.
Download or read book Unfair terms in consumer contracts in a European perspective written by and published by Nordic Council of Ministers. This book was released on 1991 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Summary.
Download or read book A Fair Contracts Approval Mechanism written by Samuel Becher and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Consumer contracts diverge from the traditional paradigm of contract law in various conspicuous ways. They are pre-drafted by one party; they cannot be altered or negotiated; they are executed between unfamiliar contracting parties unequal in their market power and sophistication; they are offered frequently by agents who act on behalf of the seller; and promisees (i.e., consumers) do not read or understand them. Consumer contracts are thus useful in modern markets of mass production, but they cast doubt on some fundamental notions of contract law. To reframe the long-lasting debate over consumer contracts this Article develops a superior legal regime whereby sellers can obtain certification of a form contract by an independent third-party. Such approval may be viewed as a quality certification, akin to a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, for standard form contracts. The many impediments to the design of such a project notwithstanding, its overall advantages are promising. The tension between the duty to read contracts and the common practice of signing consumer contracts without reading will be better reconciled. The adverse consequences of asymmetric information possessed by typical sellers and consumers will be obviated. This regime will also minimize sellers' ability to manipulate consumers' bounded rationality; increase social welfare by reducing transaction costs; diminish socially undesirable litigation over standardized contracts; make a notable step towards minimizing the alleged anomaly that punitive damage awards create in consumer contract cases; and promote market participants' autonomy by advancing trust between the contracting parties.
Download or read book If It s Easy to Read It s Easy to Claim The Effect of the Readability of Insurance Contracts on Consumer Expectations and Conflict Behaviour written by Willem H. Van Boom and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 11 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the area of financial services, lawmakers and regulators increasingly promote the use of plain language in business-to-consumer contracts. Although such efforts are undoubtedly welcomed by consumers, as they promote better comprehension, not much is known about the actual effects of improved readability on consumer attitudes and cognitive processes. Does improved readability in general contract terms have an impact on the consumer's perception of their contractual position? Do contracts that are easier to read influence the steps or actions taken by consumers in the wake of conflict? In response to these questions, we present data from an experiment that investigates the relationship between the reading ease of general contract terms on the one hand and consumer expectations and willingness to engage in conflict on the other. Our findings suggest that readability increases the trust and confidence of the consumer in the sense that it increases their expectations of the claim. Moreover, we have found partial evidence to suggest that reading ease also increases the consumer's willingness to engage in legal action in the case of subsequent claim denial.
Download or read book Practice Notes on Consumer Law written by Peter Walker and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-03-04 with total page 109 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fourth edition of Practice Notes on Consumer Law contains much useful information for those dealing with problems in consumer law, from either the consumer or supplier perspective. These notes include guidance on common problems, checklists, specimen letters and precedents to help you through the common problems in this area of law, which has recently changed so rapidly. Consumer Law covers contract, tort, consumer credit, and consumer safety. Each of these areas has seen huge changes in the ways business is done, largely as a result of changing technology, enabling people to buy goods and services in new ways, including via the internet. That technology can, in itself, be the cause of difficulties, where it goes wrong, or where suppliers have inadequate systems to deal with customer. Both suppliers and consumers need advice on how to deal with the problems that arise. This fourth edition has, therefore, been updated to include: developments such as the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, and the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 changes in consumer safety law, particularly the regulations concerning general product safety changes in civil procedure as a result of the Woolf Reforms - the book includes procedural notes relating to litigation the influence of the European Union, particularly consumer protection for distance selling contracts.
Download or read book Consumer Protection Freedom of Contract and the Law written by P. J. Aronstam and published by . This book was released on 1979-01-01 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Textbook on Consumer Law written by David W. Oughton and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 582 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on the earlier Consumer law: texts, cases and materials by David Oughton, this title explains the general theories which underlie consumer protection law and the ways in which they are applied.
Download or read book Wrap Contracts written by Nancy S. Kim and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-09-09 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When you visit a website, check your email, or download music, you enter into a contract that you probably don't know exists. "Wrap contracts" - shrinkwrap, clickwrap and browsewrap agreements - are non-traditional contracts that look nothing like legal documents. Contrary to what courts have held, they are not "just like" other standard form contracts, and consumers do not perceive them the same way. Wrap contract terms are more aggressive and permit dubious business practices, such as the collection of personal information and the appropriation of user-created content. In digital form, wrap contracts are weightless and cheap to reproduce. Given their low cost and flexible form, businesses engage in "contracting mania" where they use wrap contracts excessively and in a wide variety of contexts. Courts impose a duty to read upon consumers but don't impose a duty upon businesses to make contracts easy to read. The result is that consumers are subjected to onerous legalese for nearly every online interaction. In Wrap Contracts: Foundations and Ramifications, Nancy Kim explains why wrap contracts were created, how they have developed, and what this means for society. She explains how businesses and existing law unfairly burden users and create a coercive contracting environment that forces users to "accept" in order to participate in modern life. Kim's central thesis is that how a contract is presented affects and reveals the intent of the parties. She proposes doctrinal solutions - such as the duty to draft reasonably, specific assent, and a reconceptualization of unconscionability - which fairly balance the burden of wrap contracts between businesses and consumers.
Download or read book Exemption Clauses and Unfair Terms written by Elizabeth MacDonald and published by Bloomsbury Professional. This book was released on 2006 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth, comprehensive, and totally updated guide to the legal issues relating to common exemption clauses, and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. The expert analysis covers both the incorporation and construction of the key clauses, the relevant legislation, plus the recent Law Commissions' proposal for a single piece of unfair terms legislation. This indispensable information is presented in a clear and practical fashion enabling practitioners to quickly access the vital guidance and knowledge, and advise with certainty.
Download or read book A Businessperson s Guide to Federal Warranty Law written by and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
