by Jeff Sovern Here (behind a paywall, unfortunately). The article implies that the Bureau will listen to collector phone calls (at least, that's how I interpret the statement that the Bureau will audit the "handling of phone calls"). That contrasts with what Fred Williams reported in his book Fight Back Against Unfair Debt Collection Practices (which […]
Author Archives: Jeff Sovern
by Jeff Sovern Chris Willis of Ballard Spahr's CFPB Monitor recently blogged about whether disparate impact can properly be termed discrimination and therefore prohibited by ECOA. For those who don't know, courts generally recognize three ways to prove discrimination in violation of ECOA: direct evidence, disparate treatment (except in the Seventh Circuit) and disparate impact, or as […]
by Jeff Sovern This is completely self-serving, but law professor readers of this blog may be interested to learn that the fourth edition of our casebook, Consumer Law, Cases and Materials, Fourth Edition is expected to be released in July, in time for fall classes. Our goal was to continue comprehensive coverage of core consumer law subjects (like deceptive […]
So says Time in Why Banks Love Debit Cards Again. The report begins as follows: Debit cards were supposed to be toast. The industry started writing their obituary when financial reform targeted overdraft fees and interchange or “swipe” fees, which had made debit cards extremely lucrative for banks. So why is it that banks are […]
The prolific Chris Jay Hoofnagle of Berkeley and Jan Whittington of the Department of Urban Design and Planning, University of Washington have written The Price of 'Free': Accounting for the Cost of the Internet's Most Popular Price, forthcoming in 61 UCLA Law Review (2014). Here's the abstract: Offers of “free” services abound on the internet. […]
Richard A. Bales and Mark B. Gerano, both of Northern Kentucky have written Oddball Arbitration, 30 Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal (2013). Here's the abstract: Congress passed the FAA in 1925 to resolve commercial disputes involving merchants. Since then, the Supreme Court has dramatically expanded the scope of the FAA and applied it in […]
by Jeff Sovern Earlier this week, I commented on car dealer opposition to the CFPB's auto financing rules. Chris Willis replied on Ballard Spahr's informative CFPB Monitor Blog. I want to respond to two of Chris's points: first, that compliance, policing, and later enforcement steps will increase the cost of credit; and second, that dealers […]
Here. (HT: Michael Romero)
Here. And it's less than three minutes.
It's called Three Cheers for the Nanny State and is authored by Sarah Conly of Bowdoin College. The essay discusses Mayor Bloomberg's attempt to ban large sodas and behavioral economics.