by Jeff Sovern Evidently some financial institutions see benefits in class actions. As American Banker's Kevin Wack reports here, Wisconsin's Summit Credit Union has filed a class action against Equifax. I guess Summit's contract with Equifax doesn't have an arbitration clause.
Author Archives: Jeff Sovern
Here. The whole column is definitely worth a read, but here's an excerpt: The FCRA Liability Harmonization Act is particularly noxious. Authored by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), the bill would cap actual and statutory damages for class actions involving credit agencies at $500,000, and completely eliminate punitive damages. Loudermilk said Friday that his bill “is […]
by Jeff Sovern On Saturday, I posted an entry, Kaplinsky & Levin Concede "Consumers rarely pursue individual arbitration" But Miss Mark on Why. Maybe it irritated Alan and Mark, because they then posted Professor Sovern Disagrees with Senator Warren and Concedes that Consumers Do Well in Arbitration But Raises Another Red Herring. I guess I […]
by Jeff Sovern Earlier this week, Senator Elizabeth Warren issued a press release about the responses she had received from Bank CEOs to her questions about the CFPB's arbitration rule, Responses from Bank CEOs Demonstrate Positive Impact of CFPB Arbitration Rule, Undermine Industry Case for Reversal. The press release contains a lot of interesting information, […]
Here, in the LA Times. Excerpt: First, visit the company’s often crashing Web page to check if your information was compromised. Then decide whether to sign up for the one year of free credit monitoring, * * * Next, the personal finance experts said, freeze your credit reports, not just at Equifax, but at its […]
by Jeff Sovern Equifax is, as expected, turning into a huge consumer protection story and as with many such stories, it is generating so much news that not only is it hard to keep up, it seems easier to give up. Still, I wanted to direct our readers to a report in the Times, Equifax […]
by Jeff Sovern Yesterday, the House passed an appropriations bill that incorporates provisions from the Financial Choice Act that would cripple the CFPB. According to Law360: The base bill would make a number of changes to the CFPB, including bringing it under the purview of the normal appropriations process. In addition, the bill would remove […]
by Jeff Sovern Here. The customers in question had purchased Equifax's credit monitoring service. You know, the service it's now offering for free. Oh, and in addition to the CFPB investigation, the NY AG's investigation, and the class actions, the FTC is now investigating the security breach.
by Jeff Sovern Brian posted earlier about a letter from senators on the Equifax breach. Not to be outdone, the two dozen Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have written their own letter to Equifax, raising numerous questions about the breach. Among them are queries about the Equifax's arbitration clause, security freeze, credit monitoring services, […]
by Jeff Sovern I wanted to comment on a couple of op-eds opposing the CFPB arbitration rule. One is Joseph Cioffi's piece in the American Banker, headlined CFPB arbitration rule will still pose costs to consumers. Though Cioffi (Chair of the Insolvency, Creditors’ Rights & Financial Products Practice Group at Davis & Gilbert) sees the arbitration rule as […]