The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing yesterday entitled “The Telephone Consumer Protection Act at 25: Effects on Consumers and Business.” The committee website described the topic as: The hearing will examine the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA), an enacted bill that requires solicitors to maintain a “Do Not […]
Author Archives: Allison Zieve
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report finds that one-in-five borrowers who take out a single-payment auto title loan have their car or truck seized by their lender for failing to repay their debt. According to the report, more than four-in-five of these loans are renewed the day they are due because borrowers cannot afford to […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed suit this week against All American Check Cashing, Inc., which offers check cashing and payday loans, and its owner, for allegedly tricking and trapping consumers. The complaint alleges that All American tried to keep consumers from learning how much they would be charged to cash a check and used […]
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday that a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Education by former students of a now-defunct for-profit beauty school can proceed. The students sued the Department for aggressive collection tactics against students who likely had the right to discharge their loans. Courthouse News offers this summary: Former […]
Payday lenders will lose access to Google’s biggest online ads network in mid-July. From that point on, search results pages will stop displaying paid marketing from payday lenders. ThinkProgress has the story.
A recent Consumer Reports survey of 1,005 adults found that more than half of consumers seek out foods with the word "natural" on the label, often in the false belief that the foods were produced without genetically modified organisms, hormones, pesticides, or artificial ingredients. But on food labels, the word does not necessarily mean any […]
Think Progress reports that traditional are planning to jump into the market for low-rate loans after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalizes rules on payday and auto title lending. Relying on an American Banker article (subscription required), it says that at least three major American banks are planning to offer comparable loans at far lower […]
The Federal Trade Commission has charged the operators of dozens of companies with deceiving consumers by using fake newspaper subscription notices. According to the FTC’s complaint, through a complicated web of companies, the defendants send consumers “Notice of Renewal/New Order” mailers for subscriptions to newspapers such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, […]
Marketers of green coffee bean extract weight-loss supplements, male enhancement products, and skin care products will forfeit assets totaling approximately $9.2 million, and have already turned over a Ferrari to settle the Federal Trade Commission’s court action brought against them in October 2014. The proposed stipulated final order bans individual defendants Danelle Miller and Jason […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced yesterday the "Payback Playbook"—a set of prototype disclosures that outline a path to affordable payments for borrowers trying to avoid student debt distress. The CFPB explained that Payback Playbook provides borrowers with personalized information about their repayment options from loan servicers so they can secure a monthly payment they […]