Federal law, straight from the source

11 U.S.C. § 1328

Chapter 13 discharge

Describes the discharge a debtor earns after completing a Chapter 13 repayment plan.

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11 U.S.C. § 362

Automatic stay

Immediately stops most collection actions, lawsuits, and foreclosures the moment a bankruptcy case is filed.

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11 U.S.C. § 506

Secured claims & liens

Determines how much of a creditor's claim is treated as secured by collateral.

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11 U.S.C. § 523

Debts that survive bankruptcy

Lists debts — like most taxes, student loans, and child support — that are not wiped out by a discharge.

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11 U.S.C. § 541

Property of the estate

Defines what property comes into the bankruptcy estate when a case is filed.

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11 U.S.C. § 707

Chapter 7 dismissal & means test

Governs when a Chapter 7 case can be dismissed, including the income-based means test.

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11 U.S.C. § 727

Chapter 7 discharge

Sets out when an individual debtor receives — or is denied — a Chapter 7 discharge.

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17 CFR Part 240

Securities Exchange Act rules

The SEC rules under the Exchange Act, including the Rule 10b-5 antifraud provision.

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15 U.S.C. § 1

Sherman Act — restraints of trade

Bans contracts, combinations, and conspiracies that unreasonably restrain trade.

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15 U.S.C. § 18

Clayton Act — mergers

Blocks mergers and acquisitions whose effect may be to substantially lessen competition.

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15 U.S.C. § 2

Sherman Act — monopolization

Prohibits monopolizing or attempting to monopolize a market through anticompetitive conduct.

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15 U.S.C. § 45

FTC Act — unfair practices

Prohibits unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts in commerce.

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15 U.S.C. § 6801

Financial privacy

Requires financial institutions to protect and disclose how they handle customers' personal data.

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15 U.S.C. § 77b

Securities Act — definitions

Defines core terms of federal securities law governing the offer and sale of securities.

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15 U.S.C. § 78j

Securities fraud

Bars manipulative and deceptive devices in connection with buying or selling securities — the basis for Rule 10b-5.

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20 U.S.C. § 1681

Title IX

Bars sex discrimination in education programs that receive federal funding.

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29 U.S.C. § 794

Disability — federal programs

Bars disability discrimination by programs and agencies that receive federal funds.

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42 U.S.C. § 1981

Equal rights under the law

Guarantees everyone the same right to make and enforce contracts regardless of race.

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42 U.S.C. § 1983

Civil action for deprivation of rights

Lets you sue state and local officials who violate your constitutional rights while acting under color of law.

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42 U.S.C. § 1985

Conspiracy to interfere with civil rights

Creates liability when two or more people conspire to deprive someone of equal protection of the laws.

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42 U.S.C. § 1988

Attorney's fees in civil rights cases

Allows prevailing parties in many civil-rights suits to recover their attorney's fees.

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42 U.S.C. § 2000a

Public accommodations

Bans discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin in hotels, restaurants, and theaters.

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42 U.S.C. § 2000d

Federally funded programs

Bars discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any program that receives federal funding.

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52 U.S.C. § 10301

Voting Rights Act, Section 2

Prohibits voting practices that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority.

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18 U.S.C. § 1001

False statements to the government

Makes it a crime to knowingly lie or conceal material facts in a matter within federal jurisdiction.

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18 U.S.C. § 1341

Mail fraud

Criminalizes schemes to defraud that use the U.S. mail or private carriers.

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18 U.S.C. § 1343

Wire fraud

Criminalizes fraud schemes carried out using interstate wire, radio, or TV communications.

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18 U.S.C. § 1956

Money laundering

Punishes financial transactions designed to conceal the proceeds of unlawful activity.

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18 U.S.C. § 1962

RICO

Targets patterns of racketeering activity conducted through an enterprise, with criminal and civil penalties.

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18 U.S.C. § 242

Deprivation of rights under color of law

Makes it a federal crime for an official to willfully deprive someone of their constitutional rights.

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18 U.S.C. § 3553

Federal sentencing factors

Lists the factors a federal judge must weigh when imposing a sentence.

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18 U.S.C. § 922

Firearms — prohibited acts

Lists who may not possess firearms and which firearm transactions are illegal.

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21 U.S.C. § 841

Controlled substances offenses

Makes it a federal crime to manufacture, distribute, or possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.

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29 CFR Part 1604

EEOC sex discrimination guidelines

The EEOC's rules interpreting sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, under Title VII.

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29 CFR Part 1910

OSHA general industry standards

The core workplace safety and health standards employers must follow in general industry.

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29 U.S.C. § 1132

ERISA enforcement

Lets employees and beneficiaries sue to recover benefits and enforce rights under employer benefit plans.

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29 U.S.C. § 158

Unfair labor practices

Defines unfair labor practices and protects workers' right to organize and bargain collectively.

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29 U.S.C. § 206

Minimum wage & equal pay

Sets the federal minimum wage and requires equal pay for equal work regardless of sex.

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29 U.S.C. § 207

Overtime pay

Requires time-and-a-half pay for most employees who work more than 40 hours in a week.

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29 U.S.C. § 2601

Family and Medical Leave

Gives eligible employees up to 12 weeks of job-protected unpaid leave for family or medical reasons.

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29 U.S.C. § 623

Age discrimination

Protects workers 40 and older from discrimination in hiring, firing, pay, and promotion.

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29 U.S.C. § 654

OSHA general duty clause

Requires employers to provide a workplace free from recognized serious hazards.

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42 U.S.C. § 12112

ADA — employment

Requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations and bars disability discrimination in hiring and on the job.

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42 U.S.C. § 2000e

Employment discrimination

Bans workplace discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

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26 U.S.C. § 2001

Federal estate tax

Imposes a tax on the transfer of a person's taxable estate at death.

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26 U.S.C. § 2010

Unified estate & gift tax credit

Provides the lifetime exemption that offsets estate and gift tax for most estates.

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26 U.S.C. § 2501

Federal gift tax

Taxes gifts of money or property made during a person's lifetime above the annual exclusion.

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22 U.S.C. § 9001

International child abduction

Implements the Hague Convention to return children wrongfully taken across international borders.

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28 U.S.C. § 1738

Custody jurisdiction (PKPA)

Tells courts which state's child-custody order to honor, preventing conflicting custody rulings across states.

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8 CFR Part 214

Nonimmigrant visa classes

The detailed rules governing temporary (nonimmigrant) visa categories.

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8 U.S.C. § 1101

Definitions (INA)

Defines the key terms of U.S. immigration law, including the many visa categories.

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8 U.S.C. § 1158

Asylum

Allows people physically present in the U.S. to apply for asylum based on a well-founded fear of persecution.

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8 U.S.C. § 1182

Grounds of inadmissibility

Lists the reasons a person can be denied a visa or entry into the United States.

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8 U.S.C. § 1227

Grounds of deportability

Lists the reasons a non-citizen already in the U.S. can be removed.

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8 U.S.C. § 1229b

Cancellation of removal

Lets certain long-term residents ask an immigration judge to stop their removal.

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8 U.S.C. § 1255

Adjustment of status

Allows eligible people to become lawful permanent residents without leaving the U.S.

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8 U.S.C. § 1427

Naturalization requirements

Sets the residence, good-character, and civics requirements for becoming a U.S. citizen.

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15 U.S.C. § 1125

Trademark — false designation

Creates liability for false designations of origin, including unregistered trademark infringement and false advertising.

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17 U.S.C. § 106

Exclusive rights in copyright

Lists the rights a copyright owner holds, such as reproduction, distribution, and public display.

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17 U.S.C. § 107

Fair use

Allows limited use of copyrighted work without permission for purposes like criticism, comment, teaching, or research.

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17 U.S.C. § 512

DMCA safe harbor

Shields online platforms from liability for user-posted infringement if they remove content after proper notice.

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18 U.S.C. § 1836

Trade secret misappropriation

Gives trade-secret owners a federal civil claim against misappropriation.

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35 U.S.C. § 101

Patent-eligible inventions

Defines what kinds of inventions and discoveries can be patented.

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35 U.S.C. § 103

Non-obviousness

Bars a patent when the invention would have been obvious to a skilled person at the time.

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35 U.S.C. § 271

Patent infringement

Defines the acts — making, using, selling, importing — that infringe a patent.

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28 U.S.C. § 1346

Federal Tort Claims Act — jurisdiction

Lets people sue the federal government for injuries caused by the negligence of its employees.

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28 U.S.C. § 2674

United States tort liability

Makes the United States liable in tort the same way a private person would be.

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12 CFR Part 1026

Regulation Z (Truth in Lending)

Implements TILA with the detailed disclosure rules lenders must give borrowers.

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12 U.S.C. § 2601

Real estate settlement

Regulates mortgage closing costs and bans kickbacks in real-estate settlement services.

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15 U.S.C. § 1601

Truth in Lending

Requires lenders to clearly disclose the cost of credit, including the APR and finance charges.

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42 U.S.C. § 3604

Fair Housing Act

Bans discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on protected characteristics.

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42 U.S.C. § 4852

Lead paint disclosure

Requires sellers and landlords of older homes to disclose known lead-based paint hazards.

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26 CFR Part 1

Federal income tax regulations

Treasury's detailed rules interpreting the federal income tax code.

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26 U.S.C. § 162

Business expense deduction

Allows deductions for ordinary and necessary expenses of carrying on a trade or business.

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26 U.S.C. § 170

Charitable contribution deduction

Allows individuals and businesses to deduct qualifying gifts to charity.

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26 U.S.C. § 501

Tax-exempt organizations

Exempts qualifying charitable, religious, and educational organizations from federal income tax.

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26 U.S.C. § 61

Gross income defined

Defines income broadly as all income from whatever source derived.

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26 U.S.C. § 7201

Tax evasion

Makes willfully attempting to evade or defeat a tax a federal felony.

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40 CFR Part 50

National air quality standards

EPA's limits on common air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

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45 CFR Part 164

HIPAA Privacy & Security

The federal rules protecting the privacy and security of personal health information.

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15 U.S.C. § 1681

Credit reporting

Regulates how consumer credit information is collected, shared, and corrected.

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15 U.S.C. § 1692

Debt collection

Bans abusive, deceptive, and unfair practices by third-party debt collectors.

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15 U.S.C. § 2301

Consumer warranties

Sets federal rules for written warranties on consumer products.

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16 U.S.C. § 1531

Endangered Species Act

Protects threatened and endangered species and the habitats they depend on.

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20 U.S.C. § 1232g

Student privacy

Protects the privacy of student education records and gives parents and students rights over them.

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20 U.S.C. § 1400

Special education

Guarantees children with disabilities a free appropriate public education tailored to their needs.

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28 U.S.C. § 1332

Diversity jurisdiction

Lets federal courts hear disputes between citizens of different states when more than $75,000 is at stake.

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33 U.S.C. § 1251

Clean Water Act

Governs pollutant discharges into U.S. waters and sets water-quality standards.

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42 U.S.C. § 4321

Environmental review

Requires federal agencies to study the environmental impact of major actions before proceeding.

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42 U.S.C. § 7401

Clean Air Act

The framework for federal regulation of air pollution from industry and vehicles.

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42 U.S.C. § 9601

Superfund

Makes parties responsible for cleaning up hazardous-waste contamination.

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47 U.S.C. § 227

Robocalls & texts

Restricts automated calls and texts and created the framework behind the Do-Not-Call rules.

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