Daniel Timothy LeBel

• Class Actions
• Deceptive Business Practices
• False Advertising

California

Since 2006

9th Circuit

Since 2006

Owner

Consumer Law Practice of Daniel T. LeBel

2010 - Current

University of California College of the Law, San Francisco

J.D. (2006) | Civil Litigation Concentration

Honors: Witkin and CALI Awards

University of California - Berkeley

B.A. (1999)

Honors: Honors, Distinction in General Scholarship

National Association of Consumer Attorneys

Member

Current

California State Bar  # 246169

Member

2006 - Current

Q. What are my options to cancel the payment through Affirm for an undelivered online purchase?

May 29, 2025

A: Sorry to hear you are apparently being taken advantage of by Affirm and/or this merchant. A professional legal analysis would require more facts and a review of Affirm and the merchant's terms of service. However, it seems patently unfair that a failure to respond by the merchant triggers an assignment of responsibility to you. To take an analogy from a different area of law, Affirm's policy as you state it here essentially holds you "guilty until proven innocent" and fails to require any action by the prosecutor. This seems a violation of California's unfair business practices act among other wrongdoing. You should know that statutes of limitations apply which could limit the amount of time you have to act and bar potential claims. There are potentially other risks here of nonpayment which could include adverse credit reporting or collections actions. You should speak with experienced consumer protection counsel. ... Read More

Q. Car repossession despite no late payments, dogs harmed, no notification received. What are my rights?

April 6, 2025

A: I'm very sorry to hear about your experience and especially what happened to your dogs. There are no facts here that make this sound like a repossession other. It's common that a thief will dump a vehicle shortly after taking it. There are certainly horror stories and I have represented people who have been abused during a repossession but it would be a very extreme and unusual situation for a tow truck driver thinking they're acting on a legal repossession to take a vehicle with animals inside. If some agent of your lender intended to repossess the vehicle, they would have to report it beforehand to the local law enforcement. And yes, your assumption seems accurate: no one has any right to repossess if you haven't missed any payments or asked them to take the vehicle. You should report this to the local police immediately. ... Read More

Q. I recently dropped my truck off at the mechanics and they used my truck for personal use.

November 21, 2023

A: Sorry to hear about what sounds like a frustrating experience and I would guess there's a feeling like a burglary where they've violated your personal space and privacy. This kind of behavior by a business entrusted with your vehicle is, as you wrote, way out of line. In my opinion this is not a matter a skilled attorney would consider filing a case over.

You may want to consider asserting your case in small claims and you could certainly report this to the California Bureau of Automotive Repair which has jurisdiction over service shops such as this one. The threat of being disciplined or losing their license may may this shop behave differently in the future.

Bureau of Automotive Repair

https://www.bar.ca.gov/ ... Read More

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