Attorney General's News Release

En Espanol

December 14, 2005

Nixon offers new consumer resources for Spanish speakers — Know Your Rights and Landlord-Tenant Law

Attorney General Nixon, right, and Guadalupe Centers Associate Director Bernardo Ramirez discuss the new publications at the Guadalupe Centers in Kansas City.

Jefferson City, Mo. — Citing the fast-growing Hispanic population in Missouri, Attorney General Jay Nixon today announced that two of his popular consumer rights publications are now available in Spanish.

Know Your Rights (Conozca sus derechos) covers a wide variety of consumer issues, including car buying and repair, telemarketing, managing credit, debt collection and consumer fraud and scams.

Landlord-Tenant Law (Leyes de arrendadores e inquilinos) summarizes Missouri's laws on the rights and responsibilities of those renting residential property.

"Based on complaints to our office and feedback from the Hispanic community, it's clear that some Spanish-speaking newcomers in Missouri don't have a basic understanding of their rights as consumers," Nixon said. "Because of that, many of them are targeted by scam artists or taken advantage of. We want to stop that."

Nixon said the Landlord-Tenant Law booklet will help Spanish-speaking renters negotiate reasonable and fair leases and understand how to handle problems with their landlords.

The two publications, updated periodically to reflect changes in state law, have long been available in English and are among the most requested by Missouri consumers. In the past year, the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division has accommodated 7,000 requests for Know Your Rights and 30,000 requests for Landlord-Tenant Law.

Both publications are available in English (Know Your Rights, Landlord-Tenant Law.) and Spanish at no charge by calling the Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-392-8222 or by download at the Attorney General's Web site at www.ago.mo.gov.

Take the Attorney General's Landlord-Tenant Law quiz

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818