Oren Bar-Gill of Harvard and Omri Ben-Shahar of Chicago have written Optimal Defaults in Consumer Markets. Here's the abstract: The design of default provisions in consumer contracts involves an aspect that does not normally arise in other contexts. Unlike commercial parties, consumers have only limited information about the content of the default rule and how […]
Author Archives: Jeff Sovern
Amy Schmitz of Missouri has written Remedy Realities in Business-to-Consumer Contracting, 58 Arizona Law Review 213 (2016). Here is the abstract: Professor Jean Braucher greatly contributed to the exploration of consumer and contract law by questioning how the law operates in the real world and highlighting the importance of “law in action.” In recognition of that […]
Martha T. McCluskey of SUNY Buffalo, Thomas Owen McGarity of Texas, Sidney A. Shapiro of Wake Forest, and James Goodwin and Mollie Rosenzweig, both of the Center for Progressive Reform, have written Regulating Forced Arbitration in Consumer Financial Services: Re-Opening the Courthouse Doors to Victimized Consumers. Here's the abstract: Forced arbitration clauses have become almost unavoidable […]
Here (behind paywall). The CFPB is one of the agencies that House Financial Services Chair Jeb Hensarling's bill would ubject to the appropriation process. Excerpt from the article: "There are many things to like about Chairman Hensarling's bill, particularly its tough capital requirements," [former FDCIC head Sheila] Bair said. "However, subjecting the banking agencies to congressional appropriations […]
Here. Excerpt: “[House Financial Services Committee Jeb Hensarling would] gut Dodd-Frank and gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” said Deepak Gupta, a Washington lawyer who previously worked as senior counsel for the watchdog agency. “Jeb Hensarling is a wholly owned subsidiary of the financial services industry.” Too harsh? Not when you consider that, according […]
by Jeff Sovern As a member of the consumer law professor community, I have learned from Senator Elizabeth Warren's work, admire her, worked with her staff, and exchanged emails with her (though we have never actually met). Consequently, I don't like seeing her called names. If I were to compare her to a Disney character, the one I would pick […]
by Jeff Sovern Yesterday the House Appropriations Committee reported out a bill that would convert the Bureau to a commission, subject it to the congressional appropriations process, and delay (perhaps forever) the adoption of the arbitration and payday lending rules. More information on the Committee's web site.
ALI’s Proposed Restatement of Consumer Contracts – Perpetuating a Legal Fiction? By Dee Pridgen The members of the American Law Institute (ALI) are currently working on what may ultimately become “The Restatement of Consumer Contracts.” This project could provide an opportunity for real law reform. Indeed, the original goals of the ALI include adapting […]
House Financial Services Chair Jeb Hensarling has proposed a Republican alternative to the Dodd-Frank Act, to be called the Financial Choice Act. The Committee's summary of the portions of the bill that affect the CFPB are as follows: SECTION THREE: Empower Americans to achieve financial independence by fundamentally reforming the CFPB and protecting investors. […]
or click here. Brilliant. Best line (and one I'm planning to use in my forthcoming FDCPA article): No good guy business model has ever been based on the logic of "what, don't worry about people's legal rights. I'm pretty sure half these unsophisticated morons can't read, right guys?"