William Penn Life, 1994 (29. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1994-12-01 / 12. szám
Page 2, William Penn Life, December 1994 William Penn LIFE Official Publication of the William Penn Association Published Monthly Office of Publication: 709 Brighton Road Pittsburgh, PA 15233 Phone: 412/231-2979 Third Class U.S. Postage Paid Pittsburgh, PA Permit No. 2724 E. E. Vargo Editor-in-chief George S. Charles, Jr. Frances A. Furedy Associate Editors John E. Lovász Managing Editor NATIONAL OFFICERS E. E. Vargo National President George S. Charles, Jr. National V.P. /Secretary Frances A. Furedy National V.P./Treasurer Robert A. Kapinus Assistent Treasurer BOARD OF DIRECTORS Joseph P. Arvay Chairman ML:hael J. Hrabar Vice Chairman Roger G. Nagy Vice Chairman Anthony C. Beke Louis A. Fodor Elmer A. Furedy Barbara A. House Michael R. Kara Michael F. Tomcsak Elmer W. Toth Frank J. Wukovits, Jr. Frank J. Radvany Secretary of the Board AUDITING COMMITTEE Charles J. Furedy Robert A. Ivancso Co-Chairmen Margaret H. Boso Secretary Dennis A. Chobody Joseph Hamari Ernest J. Mozer, Sr. CONSULTANTS Bruce &. Bruce Company Actuary Horovitz, Rudoy &. Roteman C.P.A. Rothman Gordon Foreman &. Groudine, P.C. General Counsel Dr. Julius Kesseru Medical Director Unsolicited articles, letters, manuscripts, pictures and other material submitted to the WILLIAM PENN LIFE are forwarded at the owner's risk, and the WILLIAM PENN LIFE expressly denies any responsibility for their safekeeping or return. The WILLIAM PENN LIFE reserves the right to edit, revise or reject any article submitted for publication. Postmaster: If undelivered, please send form 3579 to: William Penn Association 709 Brighton Road Pittsburgh, PA 15233 WPA mourns death of Zoltán Emri BURLINGTON, NJ - Members across the country were saddened by the death of former National Vice President Zoltán B. Emri, who passed away Oct. 21, 1994, at Memorial Hospital of Burlington County, Mount Holly, N.J. Mr. Emri, 65, served as national vice president from September 1987 to September 1991. Prior to that he served the Association as a member of the Board of Directors from 1971 to 1987 and as a member of the National Auditing Committee from 1967 to 1971. He also served as a delegate to the 25th General Convention in 1963. Mr. Emri was a longtime active member and leader on the branch level as well, serving as coordinator for Branch 22 Roebling, N.J., for many years. Born Feb. 27, 1929, in Trenton, N.J., son of the late Bela and Mary Asszony Emri, he was a longtime resident of Florence Township before moving to Burlington three years ago. Mr. Emri served as a medic with the Army in the Korean War and was a past recipient of the Burlington Jaycees "Man of the Year” award. He was a member of the American-Hungarian Civic Association in Trenton, a member of VFW Opre-Larsons Post No. 8838 in Roebling, a former past master of Column Lodge No. 120 F&cAM in Trenton, and a member of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Valley of Trenton. He also was a member and usher of St. Paul United Methodist Church in Willingboro, where he was president of the Methodist Men’s Club. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Audrey J. Cutler Emri; three daughters and a son-in-law, Nancy and Dale Cole of Florence, Barbara Emri of Mount Laurel and Jennifer Emri of Burlington; and two grandchildren, Scott and Sarah Cole. Funeral services were held Oct. 26 at St. Paul United Methodist Church with entombment in ZOLTÁN B. EMRI 1929-1994 Princeton Memorial Park. Memorial contributions can be made to the Cancer Treatment Center of Burlington County, Memorial Hospital of Burlington County, 175 Madison Ave., Mount Holly, NJ 08060, or to St. Paul United Methodist Church, Levitt Parkway and Charleston Road, Willingboro, NJ 08046. May he rest in peace.------Mo ving ?-----If you have recently moved or are planning to move, please notify our office so that we can update our records and make sure you keep receiving the William Penn Life. Please print the necessary information below. Name: Certificate No.:__________________________Branch No,: Old Address: New Address: □ I am a William Penn member, but I do not receive the William Penn Life. Please add me to your mailing list at no charge. □ I am receiving more than one copy of the publication each month. Please cancel the extra copies. Send the above information to: John E. Lovász, Managing Editor William Penn Life 709 Brighton Road Pittsburgh, PA 15233 Your rights as a borrower By Emil W. Herman, Esq., General Counsel Continuing our discussion about consumer rights, our focus this month is on your rights as a borrower. While we have all heard the phrase, "neither a borrower nor a lender be,” each of us has probably at some stage in our lives borrowed money—for the purchase of a house, furniture or an automobile. Credit card applications, even those that come unsolicited through the mails, are loan applications, and every time you use a credit card you are borrowing money. Congress, concerned with the growing importance of credit purchasing in our economy, enacted the Consumer Credit Protection Act in 1968 as a means of overseeing this growth and assuring that the American public was being protected against the unscrupulous lender. The initial portion of the Consumer Credit Protection Act is subtitled the Truth in Lending Act, and specifically addresses the information to which a consumer is entitled when considering credit, the information contained in credit advertising, credit billing practices and consumer leases. Supervision is entrusted to the Federal Reserve Board. Truth in Lending was enacted to assure that consumers could comparison shop for credit in the same way that they comparison shop for food and clothing. While food and clothing are tangible goods and invite easy comparison, the terms of a credit transaction are mired in multipage, small print applications using legalese and waivers. Under Truth in Lending, however, all material aspects of the credit transaction must be disclosed conspicuously in writing, in clear, easily understandable language and in a meaningful sequence. Disclosure must occur before the transaction is consummated. The most significant information of the transaction, the finance charge and annual percentage rate to be assessed, must be more conspicuous than all other information on the application. Truth in Lending also specifies which hidden costs must be disclosed as part of the finance charge, including the interest rate, amounts payable under a time price differential, discounts included, loan fees or finder’s fee, credit investigations fee, service charges, and, in some instances, charges for credit protection insurance in the event of accident, death or job loss of the borrower. In addition to the finance charge and annual percentage rate, lenders must also disclose late fee charges, the manner in which interest is calculated, whether the borrower is granting a security interest in property, and the extent of the borrower’s liability for failure to make timely payments. The Consumer Credit Protection Act also addresses the availability of credit in the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, adopted by Congress in 1974. This portion of the Consumer Credit Protection Act was enacted to assure that discriminatory consumer credit practices, whether based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex or marital status, were eliminated. Many states had already enacted similar legislation, and other have followed suit since the adoption of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Title Vll of the Consumer Credit Protection Act is the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, enacted by Congress in 1977. Enacted to prohibit abusive debt collection practices, the Act contains a list of prohibited practices, and allows consumers victimized by debt collectors to either report the collector to an appropriate governmental agency, or to bring suit alone to prevent the harassment. Title II of the Consumer Credit Protection Act prohibits extortionate credit transactions in the nature of threats of physical violence or other harm to the borrower or others for untimely repayment. Aimed at the loan sharking practice, this portion of the Consumer Credit Protection Act provides another source of federal power to strike at organized crime. The foregoing gives you some idea of the realm of federal legislation which protects your rights as a borrowing consumer. As noted above, many states have followed, or even led the federal government, in enacting legislation for the protection of their own citizens. As such, your rights may be even stronger under state law. For instance, most states have adopted legislation setting a maximum interest rate which can be assessed for consumer credit transactions. Thus, while Truth in Lending requires that you be told the annual percentage rate to be applied to the loan amount, your own state may have established a maximum annual percentage rate for consumer lending transactions. If you believe you have been denied credit improperly, or that credit charges being assessed against you are inconsistent with the terms of either the credit agreement or the terms of the credit advertising which caused you to seek credit, or if you are being dunned by bill collectors, you are not without rights and protection. You may want to contact the closest branch of the Consumer Credit Protection Agency to ask for assistance in asserting those rights, or seek assistance from your own lawyer. Emil W. Herman, Esq., is general counsel to William Penn Association and senior partner of the Pittsburgh law firm of Rothman Gordon Foreman & Grouding, P.C.
