On the last day of its term, the Supreme Court issued its decision in West Virginia v. EPA—a decision highly anticipated, and perhaps dreaded, by federal agencies, administrative law experts, and members of the public who care about the ability of the government to act to protect public health, safety, consumer interests, and the environment. […]
Author Archives: Allison Zieve
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last week issued an advisory opinion affirming that federal law often prohibits debt collectors from charging “pay-to-pay” fees. These charges, commonly described by debt collectors as “convenience fees,” are imposed on consumers who want to make a payment in a particular way, such as online or by phone. The press […]
The Federal Trade Commission yesterday sued Walmart for allowing its money transfer services to be used by fraudsters, who fleeced consumers out of hundreds of millions of dollars. In its lawsuit, the FTC alleges that for years, the company turned a blind eye while scammers took advantage of its failure to properly secure the money transfer […]
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an interpretive rule affirming states’ abilities to protect their residents through their own fair credit reporting laws. The CFPB rule explains that, with limited preemption exceptions, states have the flexibility to preserve fair and competitive credit reporting markets by enacting state-level laws that are stricter than the federal […]
Seven Democratic and Democratic-caucusing senators sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday calling on it to use its authority to protect communities of color and immigrant communities in the United States from discriminatory online practices, biometric surveillance, consumer predation, and anti-competitive behavior. The letter focuses on the impact of facial recognition and […]
From NCLC's press release: "A new report from the National Consumer Law Center finds progress toward a 36% APR cap for common short-term and longer-term loans in some states. In states that allow high-cost loans, exorbitant interest rates can trap borrowers in a cycle of debt. Two states – New Mexico and North Dakota – […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking public input on how bank customers can assert their rights to better customer service with big banks. A 2010 federal law specifies that consumers have rights to obtain timely responses to requests for information about their accounts from large depository institutions. In a Request for Information issued this […]
National Consumer Law Center and the Electronic Privacy and Information Center released a report describing the problem that 1 billion monthly scam robocalls create for U.S. telephone subscribers, the causes of the problem, and suggested resolutions to the problem. Here is the Executive Summary: Every month, more than one billion scam robocalls designed to steal […]
The lending practices of EasyPay Finance and Utah-based Transportation Alliance Bank (TAB Bank) are hurting military servicemembers, veterans, and their families, according to a new report from a coalition of consumer advocacy groups released in advance of Memorial Day. The report is here.
The American Banker reports: “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau again faces an existential threat in the courts — this time over whether the agency’s funding by the Federal Reserve System is constitutional. Earlier this month, five judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit signaled their view that the CFPB’s funding mechanism […]