That is the name of this article by Kate Cox over at the Consumerist. Among the items Cox discusses is the Student Loan Borrowers' Bill of Rights and the Arbitration Fairness Act, which generally would negate pre-dispute agreements that require arbitration of employment, consumer, civil rights, or antitrust disputes. Cox notes that the Act now […]
Author Archives: Brian Wolfman
As part of what the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau terms its "continu[ing] efforts to make mortgages safer and with fewer surprises along the way," the agency today issued a request for information from the public about how to improve the mortgage closing process. Here's the agency's summary: This notice requests information from the public about […]
As we've explained in a series of posts, in Carrera v. Bayer, the Third Circuit reversed a grant of class certification on the ground that the class wasn't "ascertainable." Among other things, the panel said that the class of purchasers of an over-the-counter weight-loss product had not shown that it would be able to screen out […]
Sometimes a good bit, according to this annual CFPB report issued recently. Chris Morran over at the Consumerist has this analysis of the report, and he lists the 10 biggest payouts to colleges and alumni associations in 2012: 1. Penn State Alumni Association: $2,742,743 from FIA Card Services, N.A. 2. Alumni Association of the University […]
We've been covering the serious health hazards associated with dietary supplements (for instance, here, here, and here). We've noted that although dietary supplements have drug-like effects and supplement makers market their products by trumpeting those effects, the products are not regulated like drugs by the FDA. In fact, unlike drugs, they are marketed without governmental pre-approval. […]
The auto industry was dying. The 2008-2009 crash was not the cause but would accelerate it. And perhaps the government-funded bailout was a waste. But, wait …. Listen to this IPR report on the U.S. auto industry rebound, which says not only that sales are up 50% from its 2009 low point, but that the […]
Paul Kiel of ProPublica has written When Lenders Sue, Quick Cash Can Turn Into a Lifetime of Debt, which describes how a $1,000 payday loan at 400% interest can become a $40,000 debt. The investigative report not only looks at the plight of individual borrowers but provides a comprehensive review of payday loan court enforcement […]
Despite that pesky First Amendment, state bars around the country often have tried to limit what lawyers can say in advertising to prospective clients. The Florida Bar has always been a leader in this area. And, now, in rules that went into effect earlier this year, the Florida Bar had decided that ordinary promotional techniques […]
That's the title of this piece in the New Scientist, which reveals another cause of widening economic inequality in the U.S.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today issued this 168-page compendium of preliminary research on the use of pre-dispute binding mandatory arbitration (BMA) clauses in consumer financial contracts. This document was released as part of CFPB's study on the use of BMA required by section 1028 of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law — the law that […]