The Massachusetts Consumers' Coalition is the primary
consumer rights
Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...
advocacy organization in
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
. The organization is structured as a non-profit (
501(c)(3)), and serves as the primary umbrella organization for organizations working in Massachusetts with consumer rights concerns. The organization works on federal and state-level consumer laws and provides consumer education on credit, insurance, sales, media control, and other consumer issues, and was instrumental in passing Massachusetts'
lemon law in the 1970s, one of the first state-level lemon laws.
Significant initiatives worked on:
* Car purchase rules, including car
lemon laws, defeat of the "as is" car bill, enactment of a used car
warranty
In contract law, a warranty is a promise which is not a condition of the contract or an innominate term: (1) it is a term "not going to the root of the contract",Hogg M. (2011). ''Promises and Contract Law: Comparative Perspectives''p. 48 Cambri ...
law; MCC is well known for its "Car Smart" guideline, periodically revised, which includes information about Massachusetts-specific rules for buying, leasing, and repairing cars
* Consumer
privacy - Financial transactions (including
credit card
A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...
),
RFID, data aggregators, and other issues
*
Credit report
:''This article deals with the general concept of the term credit history. For detailed information about the same topic in the United States, see Credit score in the United States.''
A credit history is a record of a borrower's responsible repa ...
ing reform
* Telecommunications and
media diversity issues including opposition to
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
ownership transfers without guarantees of
net neutrality
Network neutrality, often referred to as net neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering users and online content providers consistent rates irrespective of co ...
, and opposition to the 2003
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
proposal to permit greater consolidation of mass media ownership, opposition to higher cable rates
* Utility rates and promoting
energy efficiency
Energy efficiency may refer to:
* Energy efficiency (physics), the ratio between the useful output and input of an energy conversion process
** Electrical efficiency, useful power output per electrical power consumed
** Mechanical efficiency, a ra ...
* Home ownership and home financing - Home safety including passage of law regulating sale of home water treatment devices; home ownership financing rules
["House OK's Legislation to Regulate Contractors", ''Boston Globe'', Oct. 9, 1991.]
*
Gun control, primarily working with the
Consumer Federation of America
The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) is a non-profit organization founded in 1968 to advance consumer interests through research, education and advocacy.
According to CFA's website, its members are nearly 300 consumer-oriented non-profits, w ...
References
External links
MassConsumer.org(MCC website)
Consumer rights organizations
Organizations established in 1976
Non-profit organizations based in Massachusetts
Consumer protection in the United States
Consumer organizations in the United States
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