As many people are struggling to pay their mortgage during the coronavirus crisis, columnist Michelle Singletary offers advice on resources for people experiencing financial hardship because of the pandemic. Her column is here.
Author Archives: Allison Zieve
U.S. Public Interest Research Group's Ed Mierzwinski and Sabrina Clevenger write that the effects of coronavirus "will send credit reports in a downward spiral" and explain how Congress can help. Their op-ed in USA Today is here.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey on Friday announced that her office has filed an emergency regulation that prohibits creditors from engaging in methods of debt collection that can require people to leave their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Healey said the regulation, 940 CMR 35.00, is designed to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive debt […]
The National Consumer Law Center has posted a compilation of "major consumer protections announced in response to COVID-19," including suspensions on foreclosures, evictions, terminations on telecommunications and utility service, elimination of interest, and forbearance on student loan payments. The webpage is here.
A bipartisan group of state attorneys general on Wednesday sent letters to major online retailers urging them crack down on price gouging on their online platforms amid the spread of coronavirus. The 34 attorneys general asked Amazon, Craigslist, eBay, Facebook and Walmart build tools to detect price spikes and create landing pages for people to […]
The Wall Street Journal reports that California passed a new law to cap interest rates—currently at about 37% a year—for some consumer loans. OppLoans, however, is charging 160% on a typical loan in California, using a partnership with a Utah bank to continue selling in the state despite the new rules. OppLoans isn’t the only […]
The Washington Post reports today that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has filed a lawsuit against Fifth Third Bank, alleging the bank’s employees opened fake accounts for customers in order to meet aggressive sales targets. The federal regulator alleged Monday that the bank knew its employees were opening fake accounts since at least 2008 and […]
A nice win today for attorney Kelly Jones and my colleague Adam Pulver in McAdory v. DNF Associates: Reversing the district court’s dismissal of an action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and remanding, the Ninth Circuit held that a business that bought and profited from consumer debts, but outsourced direct collection activities, qualified […]
… but experts call it opportunistic. The Washington Post explains, here.
President Trump has nominated Nancy B. Beck, a former chemical industry executive, to lead the Consumer Product Safety Commission, an independent federal agency charged with protecting the public against dangers like toxic substances in products. The New York Times has the story, here.