In light about discrimination and retaliation at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and concerns about CFPB’s management practices and culture, the Government Accountability Office was asked to review personnel management and organizational culture issues at the CFPB. This week, GAO released its report, examining (1) CFPB employees’ views on these issues and (2) CFPB’s efforts […]
Author Archives: Allison Zieve
Courthouse News has this report: Citing a growing housing crisis in Los Angeles, the city attorney has begun targeting landlords who illegally convert their rent-controlled apartment buildings to short-term tourist rentals or hotels. "In a city with a profound shortage of affordable housing, unlawfully converting rental units to operate [as] hotels has got to stop," […]
Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary has this advice: Just say “no.” That’s the simple reply to a request from a relative or friend to co-sign on a loan. It’s one of my absolute money rules. I will not be linked financially to a loan for anyone other than my husband. Her full column on this […]
The defendants behind Vast Tech Support have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission and State of Florida charges that they scammed thousands of consumers out of millions of dollars by selling them bogus technical support services. Under the settlement, Vast Tech Support, LLC and OMG Tech Help, LLC and their chief operating officer, Mark Donohue […]
The Democratic staff of the House Financial Services Committee issued a report yesterday on compliance with state payday lending laws. Entitled “Skirting the Law: Five Tactics Payday Lenders Use to Evade State Consumer Protection Laws,” the report finds that state-level regulation of the payday lending industry is insufficient and concludes that strong federal consumer protections […]
The New York Times applauds the decision and explains why it benefits consumers, here. Politico adds some political perspective, here. The Washington Post explains the net neutrality rule and why it matters, here. Wired reports that AT&T plans to seek Supreme Court review and that congressional Republicans want to block the rule, here.
CNBC reports: Whole Foods was slapped with a warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration earlier this month after the FDA found "serious violations" of federal regulations during an inspection of the company's food preparation facility in Massachusetts. FDA inspectors reportedly found various food products, including mushroom quesadillas, chives, beets and couscous that were […]
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit just released an opinion rejecting a challenge to the Federal Communications Commission’s 2015 decision to impose network neutrality rules, which seek to prevent internet service providers from blocking or favoring websites. In short, the background of the case is this: The Commission … promulgated the order […]
The Federal Trade Commission has settled with defendants American Handicapped Inc., American Handicapped and Disadvantaged Workers Inc., and their owner charges that the defendants tricked consumers into buying household products on the false pretext that the proceeds would go to help disabled people. According to the FTC’s complaint, the defendants’ telemarketers cold-called consumers to sell […]
Bloomberg reports: Online financing platforms aimed at small businesses are drawing new scrutiny from states concerned the largely unregulated industry could cause a new predatory lending crisis. California is soliciting data from the largest lenders as state officials eye a non-bank lending statute as a possible enforcement and regulatory tool. Illinois is considering legislation that […]