Dodgy figures and poor service: Govanhill evidence to Property Factors bill

Govanhill Law Centre (GhLC) has submitted evidence to the Scottish Parliament's Local Government Committee on the Property Factors (Scotland) Bill. 

The evidence compiled by GhLC's Lindsay Paterson is available here, and includes an example of alleged overcharging, mismanagement and misapplication of VAT by a large Glasgow property factor, as well as a survey of local property factors, carried out jointly with the local Govanhill Residents Group. 

85% of those surveyed supported the statutory regulation of property factors in Scotland, while over two-thirds of respondents said that they did not believe their factoring service was good value for money.

GLC tackles bank charges on Chinese state radio

GLC has participated in a radio discussion on overdraft charges on 'People in the Know', a current affairs programme on China Radio International in Beijing. 

GLC's Mike Dailly was invited to talk to the show's host, Nigel Ballard, about campaign work in the UK, and developments around the world, on challenging bank charges. Bank fees is an issue of growing interest in China. China Radio International, (CRI) is the only overseas broadcaster in the People's Republic of China. 

CRI is one of the "three central media organizations in China" owned by the state along with China National Radio (CNR) and China Central Television (CCTV).  People In the Know is China's only English-language current affairs program. PIK covers events that shape not only China, but the world as well. 

Originally known as 'Ask The Minister,' People In the Know is designed to give CRI listeners the views of experts and 'people in the know.' Foreign guests, including world leaders, have taken part in People In the Know to tackle tough issues, such as economics, diplomacy and national and international politics. CRI broadcasts across China, and the station is relayed around the world as an international service.

The show goes out next Monday, and can also be heard online.

US bank charges: Wells Fargo loses ruling on overdraft fees

The New York Times reports this week that a federal judge ordered Wells Fargo to pay California customers $203 million in restitution for claims that it had manipulated transactions to maximize the overdraft fees it charged.
Instead of processing transactions in the order in which they were received, Wells Fargo put through the largest to smallest, a judge in San Francisco found. In a stinging 90-page opinion, United States District Judge William Alsup wrote that the practice was unfair and deceptive.

“The bank’s dominant, indeed sole, motive was to maximize the number of overdrafts and squeeze as much as possible” out of customers who spent more than they had in their accounts, the judge wrote. The ruling comes after a two-week trial in the spring heard by the judge.  Wells Fargo, which collected nearly $1.8 billion in overdraft fees in California alone from 2005 to 2007, said it would appeal.

The judge’s ruling could portend problems for other banks that are defendants in similar cases. Other federal lawsuits regarding overdraft fees have been consolidated into one class-action suit in Florida, which also claim that Wells Fargo and other banks manipulated transactions to maximize overdraft fees.

Ruben Honik, one of the lawyers representing plaintiffs in the Florida case, said the judge’s ruling would provide a “road map.  It was a litmus test for our theory and the whole approach we took.”.  Overdraft fees have become an important source of revenue for banks and credit unions in the last decade, particularly as debit cards have risen in popularity.

GLC's Principal appointed Convener of Access to Justice Committee

GLC's Principal Solicitor has been appointed Convener of the Access to Justice Committee (AJC) today by the Council of the Law Society of Scotland.  The AJC is responsible for promoting access to justice for the public in Scotland; monitoring the supply of publicly funded legal assistance across Scotland, encouraging greater co-ordination of services and liaising and negotiating with external organisations such as the Scottish Government, the voluntary advice sector and others bodies. The AJC also collaborates with other Law Society of Scotland committees, including Civil Justice, the Civil Legal Aid negotiating team, Mental Health and Disability, Equality and Diversity and Human Rights and Discrimination.

GLC welcomes £2m rescue plan for Govanhill

Glasgow's Evening Times reports that nearly £2million of Scottish Government money has been set aside to help transform Govanhill. The South Side community has long struggled to cope with cowboy landlords, poor housing, overcrowding and fly-tipping.

Campaigners, supported by Govanhill Law Centre, have been pleading for years for help to address the area’s complicated problems. Now, backed by local councillors, MSPs and Govanhill Housing Association (GHHA), locals have been given £1.8m to start tidying the area.

Part of that plan includes the creation of an enforcement squad – made up of council staff, police and fire officers – with an "armoury" of powers to crack down on slum landlords.  The team will have an annual budget of £300,000 with funding guaranteed for two years.  And lawyers from Govanhill Law Centre, led by Lorraine Barrie, will also be closely involved. Operating from a base in Coplaw Street, it will be the first time all the agencies have been brought together.

Lorraine said: "This new strategy is fantastic. What will really help is if we get the public involved and work on information they give us so we can target problem areas."  The new hit squad will track down unregistered landlords and enforce environmental health laws. Currently, any landlord running a house of multiple occupation without a licence can be fined up to £5,000. As part of the new measures, the maximum fine will next year rise to £20,000.

The Housing Bill currently going through Parliament is intended to strengthen powers for councils to ensure owners look after their property. The Government will review the current landlord registration system later this year, with the aim of helping councils ensure all private landlords sign up.  Lorraine added: "The new measures will give us a powerful armoury and help us take the power back from people who are breaking the law." 

The full story from the Evening Times (which is running a series of reports from Govanhill all of this week) is available online here.

Tickets still available for GLC classical concert

Jacob Shaw, Suyeon Kang, and CharLi have arrived in Edinburgh to begin rehersals for GLC's Classical Concert, which takes place in Glasgow this Friday, 30 July 2010. The concert is to raise funds for our new Schools Trust and tickets are still available.

The concert is in Adelaides Auditorium on the evening of Friday, 30 July 2010, 209 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4HZ. Ticket prices are £10 for adults and £5 for children. A draft programme is here. To buy or reserve tickets, or for further information, please contact GLC on 0141 440 2503 or e-mail m @govanlc.com; or fax us on 0141 445 3934. Please note that 100% of the ticket price will go to help school children in Glasgow Govan; everyone involved in this event is kindly donating their time without charge to support our trust fund.

GLC will be setting up a stand-alone charitable trust which will provide funds to help local school children in Glasgow Govan. The new trust will help pay for additional school materials, educational visits and school trips for kids who otherwise couldn't afford to enjoy such opportunities, as well as providing a number of specific educational bursaries to help local Govan kids progress with their studies.

Call for consultation on Law Society of Scotland's governance reform to start again

In response to the Law Society of Scotland's consultation on the reform of its constitution and standing orders (CSO), Govan Law Centre has expressed concern that very few firms or solicitors appeared to have engaged in the consultation process.

GLC has suggested that the consultation process should be commenced afresh as a two-stage process. Firstly, to allow members to identify the 'high level principles' that a 21st century governance structure should aim to achieve; and secondly, to then take those high level principles as a framework, and draft a new CSO from them, and thereafter consult on that draft CSO.   We believe this would be an inclusive and constructive approach to delivering effective governance reform.

Furthermore GLC believes that any consultation on changes to the governance structure of the Law Society of Scotland (‘LSS’) must take place after Stage 3 of the Legal Services (Scotland) Bill; given this Bill has a direct impact on the subject matter of any such consultation.   Our summary consultation response is available online here.