by Jeff Sovern As we have previously noted, the CFPB has scheduled a July 28 debt collection field hearing, and could announce the beginning of the SBREFA process, leading to a rule-making, that day. NCLC's April Kuehnhoff speculates that the Bureau will also release the results of its debt collection studies then. The Bureau's arbitration study […]
Author Archives: Jeff Sovern
by Jeff Sovern Last week, I posted the abstract for our article, Are Validation Notices Valid? An Empirical Evaluation of Consumer Understanding of Debt Collection Validation Notices. In this post, I wanted to write about something that didn’t appear in the abstract: the extent to which respondents thought a collection letter said the collector would […]
by Jeff Sovern I have now finished the audio version of David Dayen's book, Chain of Title. With two caveats, I think it's an excellent book. The caveats: first, I don't know enough about the events it describes to know how accurate it is, and second, I lose some comprehension with audiobooks, as opposed to […]
Here. The Bureau is likely to announce the Small Business Regulatory Fairness Enforcement Act (SBREFA) proceeding that day, which will entail giving some information about what its proposed debt collection rules are likely to look like.
The story is headlined Pence VP Pick Could Shape Trump's Banking Policy (free content). Here is what the article says about Pence's view of the CFPB: When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was just a legislative proposal, Pence objected to giving a new agency so much power; he would likely support efforts to reform the structure […]
by Jeff Sovern Allison posted yesterday about the National Financial Capability Study. GW Business School professor Annamarie Lusardi has a Wall Street Journal essay titled So Much Student Debt, So Much Ignorance, about what the Study, which she co-authored, shows about student debt. An excerpt: The latest NFCS data find that about one-in-five loan holders […]
Joseph M Hnylka of Nova Southeastern has written Continuing to Litigate after You Have Won: Courts Defy Article III to Avoid Mooting TCPA Class Actions, Despite Defendants’ Rule 68 Offers of Complete Relief, 64 Drake Law Review (2016). Here's the abstract: Every day, thousands of ordinary Americans receive unwelcome faxes, text messages, and prerecorded telephone calls […]
by Jeff Sovern My co-author, Kate Walton, and I have posted a draft of our new article, Are Validation Notices Valid? An Empirical Evaluation of Consumer Understanding of Debt Collection Validation Notices to SSRN. We would love comments on this version. Here's the abstract: A principal protection against the collection of consumer debts that are […]
by Jeff Sovern If I had known about this study a few days ago, I would have added it to my list for John Oliver. The study is Jonathan A. Obar & Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch, The Biggest Lie on the Internet: Ignoring the Privacy Policies and Terms of Service Policies of Social Networking Services (2016). The […]
David S. Schwartz of Wisconsin has written Justice Scalia's Jiggery-Pokery in Federal Arbitration Law, Minnesota Law Review, Vol. 101, Headnotes 75 (2016). Here's the abstract: "Jiggery-pokery," a phrase introduced into the U.S. Reports by the late Justice Scalia, is emblematic of Justice Scalia's style — both his lively writing style and his penchant for criticizing his […]