Last month, 12 students from the University of Colorado Law School presented a consumer skills seminar with the Boulder County Department of Housing and Human Services (BCDHHS). The all-day seminar was part of Professor Amy Schmitz’s Consumer Empowerment service-learning course at Colorado Law and designed to empower consumers from the community.
The seminar included information on numerous topics, including: debt consolidation and credit repair, Colorado consumer protection laws, the CARD act, payday loans, debt collection practices, foreclosure and refinance scams, prepaid credit cards, identity theft, bankruptcy, online dispute resolution, the consumer complaint process, internet safety, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and more. In addition to the seminar, students in the class post commentaries on these important consumer topics on Schmitz’s consumer outreach website at MyConsumerTips.info.
"I am passionate about the Consumer Empowerment project, as it combines outreach in the community with a consumer law course in a way that advances students' and the public's understanding of important financial and contracting issues," Schmitz said. "I look forward to continuing our work on this and other consumer protection projects."
More than 15 community members attended. “Presenting at the consumer empowerment seminar was both a challenge and a genuine pleasure. Consumer rights matter, and I am proud that my classmates and I had the opportunity to help people learn about such important matters,” said Hunter Swain, third year student.