Author Archives: Allison Zieve

CFPB charges Portfolio Recovery Associates with continued illegal debt collection practices and consumer reporting violations

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took action this week against Portfolio Recovery Associates, one of the largest debt collectors in the nation, for violating a 2015 CFPB order and engaging in other violations of law. The CFPB’s proposed order, if entered by the court, would require Portfolio Recovery Associates to pay more than $12 million […]

FTC proposes “click to cancel” rule for subscriptions and memberships

The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a “click to cancel” provision requiring sellers to make it as easy for consumers to cancel their enrollment as it was to sign up. The proposal would make several specific changes, including implementing a simple cancellation mechanism, new requirements before making additional offers, and new requirements regarding reminders and […]

CFPB improves survey on credit cards to promote competition and comparison shopping

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week “launched an improved survey of credit card issuers that can help consumers and families compare interest rates and other features when shopping for a new credit card.” The agency explained that the [u]pgrades to the CFPB’s terms of credit card plans survey are designed to increase price competition […]

Disagreeing with the 5th Circuit, the 2d Circuit holds that the CFPB’s funding structure is constitutional

In 2019, the CFPB issued a “civil investigative demand” to the Law Offices of Crystal Moroney, a law firm that principally provides legal advice and services to clients seeking to collect debt. In April 2020, the CFPB moved to enforce the 2019 CID. In August 2020, the district court granted the CFPB’s petition to enforce […]

Proposals for regulating ChatGPT and other generative AI

“While ChatGPT and generative AI’s powerful potential has sparked excitement, some experts worry that ChatGPT—which sometimes produces inaccurate responses—may spread misinformation. In addition, other experts have expressed concern that the tool may replace workers.” At The Regulatory Review, scholars compile scholarship discussing the potential harms of ChatGPT and evaluating ways to regulate generative AI. The […]

FCC establishes robotext protections

The Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday to require providers that receive and deliver phone traffic to implement call authentication standards mandated under its STIR/SHAKEN robocall regime and to implement basic protections from problematic robotexts. Under the previous rules, only voice service providers that originate and terminate calls were required to implement analytical tools that […]

Consumer issues affecting American Indian and Alaska Native communities

A new Federal Trade Commission report to Congress details the consumer issues that affect American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations, as well as the FTC’s enforcement, outreach and education work on these issues. The report summarizes the agency’s efforts to hear directly from tribal leaders, community members, advocates, and others about issues affecting their […]

Chamber of Commerce complains that consumers subject to companies’ forced arbitration clauses try to arbitrate

After years of advocating that forced arbitration provisions that deprive consumers of the option of filing claims in court and bar consumers from pursuing class actions, the Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform is now complaining that consumers are using arbitration too much. Reuters’ article on ILR’s shameless report, with a link to the […]

CFPB reports on illegal junk fees on bank accounts, mortgages, student loans, and auto loans

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released today a special edition of its Supervisory Highlights that reports on unlawful junk fees uncovered in deposit accounts and in multiple loan servicing markets, including in mortgage, student, and payday lending. The CFPB explains that “[t]hese unlawful fees corrode family finances, force up families’ banking and borrowing costs, and […]

Using consumer law to protect workers

In Consumer Law as Work Law (forthcoming Calif. L. Rev. 2024), law professor Jonathan Harris describes the possibilities and challenges of turning to consumer law as part of an integrated work law to help remediate the bargaining power asymmetries between firms and workers. Here is the abstract: In recent decades, firms have radically transformed labor […]