In In Re HP Inkjet Printers, the Ninth Circuit yesterday reversed the district court’s orders granting final approval to a class-action settlement between Hewlett-Packard Company and a nationwide class of consumers who purchased certain HP inkjet printers, and awarding attorneys’ fees. Here is the summary issued by the court: The panel held that the attorneys’ […]
Author Archives: Allison Zieve
Senator Franken today sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission urging it to "promptly exercise its authority under Section 921 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to prohibit the use of mandatory arbitration provisions in customer service agreements." His letter and press release are posted here.
According to this article in today's Wall Street Journal, several states are considering whether to limit the business of lending money to plaintiffs to fund litigation and collecting if the plaintiffs' suits are successful. “At the heart of many of the bills are proposals to subject the lawsuit-funding industry to existing state laws that regulate […]
The FTC yesterday put out a request for comment on the consumer privacy and security issues posed by the "Internet of Things." As the FTC explains: The ability of everyday devices to communicate with each other and with people is becoming more prevalent and often is referred to as "The Internet of Things." Consumers already […]
A group of organizations including the Union of Concerned Scientists, Breast Cancer Fund, and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families yesterday sent a letter to major retailers asking them to phase out the use of more than 100 chemicals used in hundreds of products, including wrinkle-free clothes, shampoos, sofa cushions, and food packaging. The retailers include Walmart, […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced four enforcement actions against mortgage insurers that the CFPB believes are paying improper kickbacks to mortgage lenders in exchange for business. The CFPB filed complaints alleging violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (sometimes referred to as RESPA) and proposed consent orders against the four insurance companies […]
The Federal Trade Commission has warned operators of six websites that share information about consumers’ rental histories with landlords that they may be subject to the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The letters inform the six operators that, if they collect information on tenants and their rental history and provide that information […]
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday announced two winners of its contest seeking ideas to block illegal robocalls. The two winners will receive $25,000 each. Both of their solutions "focus on intercepting and filtering out illegal prerecorded calls using technology to 'blacklist' robocaller phone numbers and 'whitelist" numbers associated with acceptable incoming calls. Both proposals […]
Last year, Charles Schwab modified its customer account agreements to prohibit class-action suits and bar consolidation of individual arbitrations. FINRA — the financial industry regulatory authority — then charged Schwab with violating FINRA's rules. As we previously reported, Schwab challenged FINRA's action in district court, but the court dismissed the suit for failure to exhaust […]
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray spoke today at the the CFPB Advisory Board's first meeting of 2013. He discussed the CFPB's current priorities, including unequal access to credit for minorities, deceptive marketing of consumer financial products, and debt traps. He also touched on the Bureau's efforts to be transparent, to respond to consumer […]