Editorial Standards and Sources

Editorial standards

Every page is about consumer-protection law: debt collection, credit reporting, background checks, unwanted calls and texts, data breaches and identity theft. Pages give general information, not advice about any particular situation, and they start from the problem a consumer has, not from the name of a law.

Articles are written from research and official sources gathered for each topic, and they pass the checks described below before they are published. A page that fails a blocking check is not published. Each article shows the date it was last updated.

Source hierarchy

Sources are used in this order of authority:

1. The text of the statute itself (the U.S. Code, and state codes where a page discusses state law).
2. Federal agencies and their regulations: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission and, where it applies, the Federal Communications Commission.
3. Federal court decisions.
4. State statutes, state attorneys general and state regulators.
5. Official regulatory actions, official company disclosures and authoritative court records.

Secondary sources, such as other websites, may help with research but never decide what a page says about the law where a primary source exists. Each article lists the sources it relies on, with links, at the end of the page.

Company pages

• Identification, not accusation. Company and organization names are used for identification only and do not imply wrongdoing. A company page explains what the company is, how consumers come into contact with it, and the rights that apply to that kind of dealing.
• No claim of wrongdoing without an official source. A page does not say that a company broke the law. A regulatory action or a court matter is mentioned only as an official source records it.

What is checked before publication

• Citations. Statutes and other authorities an article cites are looked up in their official sources, and case citations are checked against CourtListener, a public database of court opinions. A citation that cannot be found stops publication.
• Other pre-publication checks. Among them: that the page is about the right jurisdiction, that required disclosures and structured data are present, and that no unfinished placeholder text remains.
• Second review. Each draft is read a second time and possible errors are flagged. A flag is acted on only after it has been checked against the source text; a flag alone does not change a page.

Attorney review

No attorney currently reviews the pages on this site, and no page claims otherwise. When a reviewing attorney is engaged, the attorney will be named on the pages they review, with the date of the review.

The site’s own pages

The site’s own pages (the home page, the resources page, this page) state no specific legal rule, figure or deadline. Where they mention the law at all, it is in general terms, such as what a federal law is about.

Corrections and updates

Pages are updated when the law, an official source or the facts on a page change, and each page shows the date it was last updated. To report an error, email info@federalconsumerrights.com with the page address and what you believe is wrong.

Not legal advice

Pages are general information about consumer-protection matters, not advice about any particular situation. See the Terms of Use.