Daniel J. Solove of GW has written Privacy Self-Management and the Consent Paradox, 126 Harvard Law Review (2013). Here's the abstract: The current regulatory approach for protecting privacy involves what I refer to as the “privacy self-management model” – the law provides people with a set of rights to enable them to decide for themselves […]
Author Archives: Jeff Sovern
Here. Nice to see consumer law getting attention in petitions.
A UCC omnibus bill being introduced in the New York Legislature would revise UCC Articles 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 9, to embody the latest UCC Model Versions. If you have views about particular advantages and disadvantages to adoption, or suggested revisions, Norman Silber would be interested in knowing about them. Please email him at Norman.Silber@Hofstra.edu
by Jeff Sovern A new Fannie Mae survey reports that nearly half of lower-income respondents and more than a third of higher-income respondents obtain quotes from only one mortgage lender. The survey also confirms findings in other reports that "a substantial portion of all consumers do not understand key mortgage elements." In particular, 41% of borrowers were […]
Here. Some highlights: Of the 92 financial institutions studied, 43 percent contain mandatory binding arbitration clauses. This number increases to 47 percent when considering only banks, because none of the credit unions studied include an arbitration clause in their account agreements. * * * The larger the financial institution, the more likely an account agreement will […]
Here. Here is the key finding section of the report: The Federal Reserve has set an embarrassingly low bar for issuer disclosures, as evidenced by the 7.5% score its model disclosure received in this study. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau obviously recognized the inherent flaws with the Federal Reserve’s implemented guidelines for credit card disclosures […]
by Jeff Sovern One of the groups, the Woodstock Institute, has a report here. Among the reasons given are Wells Fargo's payday lending practices. The following excerpt from the Woodstock report has more: "Wells Fargo's mortgage servicing practices unfairly push some borrowers into foreclosure, devastating families and harming neighborhoods. Our clients continue to have their […]
Here. Behind a paywall, unfortunately. But here's a quote: In more than 2,000 letters responding to the CFPB's plan,bankers said several requirements — including a rigorous timeline for presenting borrowers with the new forms, limited deviation of estimated charges between initial and final disclosures, and an "all-in" annual percentage rate — will add constraints and […]
CL&B blogger Alan M. White of CUNY has written Losing the Paper – Mortgage Assignments, Note Transfers and Consumer Protection, 24 Loyola Consumer Law Review 468 (2012). Here's the abstract: In this article, I survey the state of the mortgage loan transfer system, the legal rules that govern it, and the widening gap between those […]
Creola Johnson of Ohio State has written Congress Protected the Troops: Can the New CFPB Protect Civilians from Payday Lending? 69 Washington & Lee Law Review 649 (2012). Here's the abstract: In 2007, Congress enacted a law, commonly referred to as the Military Lending Act (MLA), which placed a 36% interest rate cap on several […]