That's the name of this new report by the National Consumer Law Center. Here's the Center's overview: The U.S. Department of Education refers every eligible defaulted student loan debt to private debt collection agencies. Collectors are hired not only to collect money, but also to communicate with borrowers about options to resolve their debt, creating […]
Author Archives: Brian Wolfman
Yesterday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned credit-card companies through this Bulletin not to attract new customers with deceptive interest-rate deals that are too good to be true. Here's how CFPB head Richard Cordray put it: Credit card offers that lure in consumers and then hit them with surprise charges are against the law. Before […]
I thought our readers might be interested in this story by legal reporter Adam Liptak about how some facts are determined in the Supreme Court. Like any court, the Supreme Court wants to understand the facts relevant to the legal issues. It also wants to know how its decision, one way or the other, might […]
We have posted a number of times about self-driving cars, including about how they'll be regulated. Go, for instance, here, here, and here. So, now, read this article by Ashley Halsey III about a spin around D.C. in a driverless car. And, then, read the 15 things you need to know about driverless cars,including when […]
So, you want to buy a used or new car. How do you tell whether the vehicle has been recalled and whether the repair associated with the recall has been completed? Given the large number of high-volume recalls in the last few years, used cars in particular may be the subject of recalls, and you'll […]
That's the name of this article from Vox, which is worth a read. Here's an excerpt: Health care prices have grown really slowly this summer, a piece of good economic news released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Tuesday. The price of medical care commodities, which includes drugs and other medical devices, grew 0.3 percent from […]
There's no question that, for some low-wage workers, it can be finanically difficult or impossible to wait for pay day. So even if pay day loans are a bad thing for consumers, the demand for them is created by a very real problem. So, in Is ActiveHours A True Payday Alternative Or Just Another Too-Good-To-Be-True […]
I have been asked to post a reminder that if want a chance to present your paper on consumer law at the Association of American Law Schools 2015 annual meeting in January, you must submit it by tomorrow. Here ya go: AALS Section on Commercial and Related Consumer Law Call for Papers Emerging Scholars in […]
That's the topic of Future Claimants and the Quest for Global Peace, a new article by prolific law prof Rhonda Wasserman. Here's the abstract: In the mass tort context, the defendant typically seeks to resolve all of the claims against it in one fell swoop. But the defendant’s interest in global peace is often unattainable […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has just issued this consumer advisory about the risks of bitcoin and other virtual currencies. The agency has also begun accepting consumer complaints on the topic. Today’s advisory warns that virtual currencies carry significant risks, including: · Exchange rates are volatile and costs unclear: The exchange rate of Bitcoins to U.S. […]