AP, via The Washington Post, reports that President Obama is threatening to veto two bills that, he says, would undermine the Dodd-Frank financial reforms. "One of the bills would exempt some borrowing fees from an existing law aimed at protecting consumers. The second bill would undo a provision in Dodd-Frank that categorized some loans for […]
Author Archives: Allison Zieve
The New York Times today has an editorial on regulation of dietary supplements and industry capture of the agency. The editorial begins: The Food and Drug Administration’s lethargic regulation of dietary supplements containing a dangerous stimulant described in recent reports in The Times is a classic example of what happens when industry representatives infiltrate the […]
The California Department of Business Oversight announced this week that it has launched an initiative with Bing, Yahoo and Google to halt advertising by unlicensed payday lenders. When the DBO identifies unlicensed online payday lenders, it issues cease and desist orders against them. Under the protocol, when those orders become final, the DBO will notify […]
The FTC's press release explains: The Federal Trade Commission and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office have obtained a court order temporarily halting a fake debt collection scam located in Aurora, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. The defendants are charged with illegally using threats and intimidation tactics to coerce consumers to pay payday loan debts […]
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals this week reversed the dismissal of a class-action case alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by Bank of America and a law firm. The plaintiff alleged that the bank and firm, when they initiated foreclosure proceedings, assessed fees that had not yet been incurred. The court […]
Reuters explains: The ruling by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses more than $800,000 in damages from R.J. Reynolds and Altria Group Inc unit Philip Morris USA Inc awarded in 2013 to Earl Graham, whose wife Faye, a longtime smoker, died in 1993 of lung cancer. More broadly, the court said smokers who, […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday filed a lawsuit against the leaders of a robocall debt collection operation, their companies, and their service providers.The CFPB explained: The debt collectors, using various aliases, allegedly deployed automated calls to threaten, harass, and deceive consumers in attempts to collect debt the consumers did not owe to them, and […]
The Federal Trade Commission announced three settlements yesterday: • The FTC announced a settlement with Network Solutions LLC over charges that the company misled consumers who bought its web hosting services by promising a full refund if they canceled within 30 days. In reality, the company withheld substantial cancellation fees from most refunds. The FTC's […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced today that it is launching a nationwide effort to advance financial education in schools. The Bureau is publishing “Advancing K-12 Financial Education: A Guide for Policymakers,” a resource guide which contains strategies for furthering the development and implementation of financial education in states. The CFPB press release is here.
The Washington Post concludes that industry claims that state laws requiring food labels to disclose a products contains genetically modified ingredients would cost families $500 more in groceries each year are wildly exaggerated. The article is here. As the article indicates, the costs claimed by industry are largely due to expected changes in consumer behavior. […]