Published: April 13, 2015

Colorado Law & BCHA jointly co-host a consumer protection seminar in broader community outreach efforts

On March 18, 11 students from the University of Colorado Law School presented a Consumer Skills Panel with the Boulder County Department of Housing and Human Services (BCDHHS). As part of Professor Amy Schmitz’s Consumers and the Law service-learning course at Colorado Law, the evening panel was designed to educate and empower consumers from the community. Professor Schmitz and her class worked with Marcia Zipkin and Boulder County Community Services to organize the event and bring it to fruition.

The panelists provided information on numerous topics, including: landlord and tenant laws in Colorado; online contracting and internet safety; Colorado consumer protection laws; payday loans and fringe lending; fair debt collection practices; debt consolidation and credit repair; consumer complaint processes; and bankruptcy basics. Students in the class post commentaries on these and other important topics on the consumer empowerment blog on Professor Schmitz’s outreach website at www.MyConsumertips.info.

More than 30 community members attended, and both the attendees and the students benefitted from the seminar. “The event gave us the chance to learn more about consumer issues that impact people in our community,” said Liz Sullivan, one of the student-panelists. “Marcia, Jenn, and Professor Schmitz taught us to look at the law from the perspective of a consumer, and they helped us to transform our presentation into ‘news you can use.’” During the evening event, attendees enjoyed dinner, refreshments and child care free of charge, and were invited to remain for snacks and an opportunity to pose questions to the panelists directly.