Consumer, workplace and housing law
The rules that bind the other side of a routine transaction: a job, a lease, a contract, a cancelled flight, a debt collector.
Consumer Protection
9 guides filed under this heading
- Cancellation Fees: Why Some Are Enforceable and Some Are Not
A fee for leaving early is legal only if it forecasts a real loss. Here is the two-part test courts apply, what happens when it fails, and where you win.
10 min read updated October 5, 2026 - Debt Collector Rights Under the FDCPA: The 30-Day Window and 3 Tools You Have
Federal law gives you 30 days to make a collector prove the debt, a one-year deadline to sue over abuse, and tools most people never use. Here is how.
7 min read - Replying STOP won't stop everything anymore: the FCC's new opt-out rules
The FCC's new STOP rules take effect November 25, 2026: a STOP on informational texts may end only that category. Marketing opt-outs still end all marketing.
6 min read updated October 25, 2026 - The FTC sued a paid 'sextortion assistance' service. Here is what actually helps
The FTC alleges a company charged $1,499 to $20,000 to stop blackmail and mostly did not. What the FBI, NCMEC and the Take It Down Act actually offer instead.
7 min read updated October 14, 2026 - How a flight delay gets blamed: five cause codes, a sixth on the way, and why it slipped to 2027
DOT sorts flight delays into five causes. Congress carved ten events out of the airline's own column. The change now applies to flights from January 2027.
8 min read - The gift you mailed to Europe can come back as an invoice
A USPS rule effective October 19, 2026 bills the sender when a destination country seeks unpaid duties — with 6% interest and no real dispute route.
12 min read updated October 23, 2026 - Statute of limitations: the clock that can end a case before it starts
A statute of limitations is a filing and prosecution deadline. Federal criminal cases default to five years; civil and state deadlines vary by claim and place.
2 min read - Reporting Fraud Through America.gov: What the Page Promises, and What It Does Not
The portal now fronts the federal fraud intake and hands your report to Treasury. What the page promises, what is only a preview, and what the terms add.
11 min read updated October 29, 2026 - The $800 break for mail parcels is gone, and the paperwork is no longer done at your door
Duty now applies to most mail parcels from abroad, a bonded importer must file the entry, and CBP pushed the formal-entry deadline to January 20, 2027.
14 min read
Employment
5 guides filed under this heading
- At-Will Employment: What It Actually Means When You're Let Go
At-will employment lets employers end the relationship for almost any reason — but not an illegal one. Where the line sits, and what to do in the first week.
4 min read - Non-Competes: What Actually Happens When You Take the Other Job
The federal ban is dead and the rules are all state law now. Here is how to tell whether your non-compete can stop you, and where the real risk sits.
9 min read updated October 5, 2026 - Employee or Contractor? The Federal Test, and Why It Is Mid-Rebuild
The wage test, the tax test and the discrimination test give different answers, one of them is being rewritten, and your state may overrule all three.
11 min read updated October 19, 2026 - How a U.S. security clearance works: investigations, the 13 guidelines, and what can derail you
A security clearance is a federal determination, not a right. The levels, the 13 adjudicative guidelines, and the whole-person review, explained.
2 min read - Final paycheck rules: when you must be paid after leaving a job
Federal law does not set a deadline for a final paycheck. The timing is set by state law and varies widely — often differently for being fired versus quitting.
1 min read updated October 25, 2026
Housing
2 guides filed under this heading
- Security Deposits and Repair Rights: What Your Landlord Actually Owes You
The federal rules that apply in every state, the deposit deadline that runs 14 to 60 days, and why withholding rent is riskier than tenants think.
10 min read updated October 5, 2026 - Your Landlord Wants In: How Much Notice They Owe You, and What Counts as an Emergency
Entry-notice law is state law, and the range runs from 12 hours to no statute at all. Here is how to find your state's rule and what to do when it is broken.
8 min read
Contracts
2 guides filed under this heading
- Lending Money to a Friend: What to Put in Writing Before You Do
Money between friends is the most common loan and the least documented. A one-page note and an understanding of your state's limits prevent most of the damage.
5 min read updated October 5, 2026 - Small Claims Court: How to Sue Someone — and How to Actually Collect
Built for disputes too small for a lawyer and too real to ignore: the three checks before you file, and the half of the process nobody plans for.
7 min read updated October 5, 2026
Accidents
1 guide filed under this heading
- After a Car Accident: How Fault and Insurance Claims Actually Work
Whether the other driver's insurer pays depends on your state and how fault is assigned. A guide to the first 48 hours and the rules that decide the rest.
4 min read
Reference pages
Tables and lookups on the same filing, answered without reading around it
- Non-compete: who can be bound, by state
Four states void them, five tie them to a 2026 income threshold, three exclude low-wage workers, and the rest decide it in court. What each position reaches.
Other topics on Counsel
Every guide on this site is filed under one of these
Voting and elections
Registration, the difference between each kind of election and ballot, and the official timeline from the last day to vote to certification.
Family, immigration and federal rules
Custody, divorce and wills; visas, work permits and the fees attached; and what the federal portals and agencies now require of you.