Massachusetts Consumers' Coalition
Encyclopedia
The Massachusetts Consumers' Coalition is the primary consumer rights advocacy organization in Massachusetts
. 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:
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. 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 warrantyWarrantyIn business and legal transactions, a warranty is an assurance by one party to the other party that specific facts or conditions are true or will happen; the other party is permitted to rely on that assurance and seek some type of remedy if it is not true or followed.In real estate transactions, a...
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 privacyPrivacyPrivacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
- Financial transactions (including credit cardCredit cardA credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
), RFID, data aggregators, and other issues - Credit reporting reform
- Telecommunications and media diversity issues including opposition to cable televisionCable televisionCable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
ownership transfers without guarantees of net neutrality, and opposition to the 2003 Federal Communications CommissionFederal Communications CommissionThe Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
proposal to permit greater consolidation of mass media ownership, opposition to higher cable rates - Utility rates and promoting energy efficiencyEfficient energy useEfficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature...
- Home ownership and home financing - Home safety including passage of law regulating sale of home water treatment devices; home ownership financing rules
- Gun controlGun controlGun control is any law, policy, practice, or proposal designed to restrict or limit the possession, production, importation, shipment, sale, and/or use of guns or other firearms by private citizens...
, primarily working with the Consumer Federation of AmericaConsumer Federation of AmericaThe Consumer Federation of America is a non-profit organization founded in 1968 to advance consumer interests through research, education and advocacy....