Author Archives: Jeff Sovern

American Banker: Supreme Court Case May Have Big Impact on CFPB

Here (but behind a paywall).  Among the points made in the article are that the recess appointment of current CFPB Director Richard Cordray is likely to expire before the Supreme Court rules and that banks could be hurt if Cordray's appointment is ruled unconstitutional because that would leave banks subject to the Bureau but not […]

Will Banks Get Out of the Deposit Advance Loan Business? If So, Is That Desirable?

by Jeff Sovern Deposit advance loans are banks' answer to payday loans.   Just like payday loans, they tend to be for short periods and high interest rates.  And just as with payday loans, consumer advocates fear that consumers get trapped in them, in the sense that many borrowers can't come up with the money to […]

House Financial Services Committee Hearing: CFPB Budget Review

by Jeff Sovern Yesterday, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing titled CFPB Budget Review.  You can listen to the webcast here.  It seems to be part of the continuing Republican attack on the Bureau.  The American Banker reported on the hearing here (behind a paywall).  The article points out that Republicans were criticial […]

Supreme Court Grants Cert on Disparate Impact Test

by Jeff Sovern The Supreme Court today granted cert in Mount Holly v. Mount Holly Gardens Citizens in Action, which raises the issue of whether courts can use the disparate impact test in federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) cases. Because the language of the FHA is similar to that of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act […]

Consumer Protection – Wyoming Style

From Dee Pridgen: The Wyoming State Attorney General’s office recently completed its first major in-state enforcement action in recent history against the Sharps Rifle Company. The company was manufacturing a collector's item replica pistol.  Sharps took deposits and payments from customers for the pistols, but never delivered the product due to technical difficulties in the […]

The Nation: The Student Debt Crisis is Everyone’s Problem

Here.  Excerpt: First and foremost, basic consumer protections, such as bankruptcy rights and  statutes of limitations on the collections of student debt must be restored.  There is no justifiable reason why student loans should be treated unlike any  other type of debt in America. Next, we must provide a right to borrowers to  refinance their […]

More From Margaret Jane Radin on Boilerplate

Margaret Jane Radin of Michigan has written An Analytical Framework for Legal Evaluation of Boilerplate. Here's the abstract: This chapter develops an analytical framework that could help legal analysts – especially common law judges – make better decisions about boilerplate in the context of rights deletions deployed by firms against consumers. It is based on […]