Earlier today the Supreme Court announced that it would take the case in which the Fifth Circuit had held the CFPB’s funding mechanism was unconstitutional, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America, Limited. The Bureau had asked the Court to hear the case during the current term but the Court instead decided to […]
Author Archives: Jeff Sovern
Abigail Faust of The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute has written Regulating Excessive Credit, forthcoming in the Wisconsin Law Review. Here is the abstract: Consumer financial protection law is dominated by ex-ante, contract-centered regulatory measures. But these measures largely fail to curb lenders’ incentive to lend beyond consumers’ ability to repay. The Article thus suggests an alternative […]
Here (behind paywall). The information ultimately comes from the Department of Education.
R Wilson Freyermuth of the University of Missouri at Columbia, Christopher K. Odinet of Iowa, and Andrea Tosato of the University of Nottingham, School of Law and Penn have written Predatory Crypto in Real Estate. Here is the abstract: Blockchain and cryptocurrencies have ushered in a digital gold rush. But all that glitters is not gold. […]
Here is the section on consumer protection in President Biden’s speech: My administration is also taking on “junk” fees, those hidden surcharges too many businesses use to make you pay more. For example, we’re making airlines show you the full ticket price upfront and refund your money if your flight is cancelled or delayed. We’ve […]
As Richard and Allison posted, the CFPB has proposed a new rule limiting the credit card late fee safe harbor to $8. And as is perfectly predictable, banks are angry about facing a restriction on late fee revenue. I want to comment on their arguments against the proposed rule. First some background: the Credit CARD […]
American Banker’s Kate Berry reports in an article titled Could credit card late fees drop to $10? (behind paywall but probably available on Lexis) that the CFPB is expected to issue a proposal soon that would cut credit card late fees sharply. Under the Credit CARD Act of 2009, credit card late fees must be […]
My latest, co-authored with Nahal Heydari. It may be behind a paywall, but should soon be available on Lexis. It’s based on our article, Not-So-Smartphone Disclosures, which reports on the results of a survey of consumer understanding of credit card disclosures on smartphones and other computers. Here’s an excerpt: If we had graded the consumers by […]
by Jeff Sovern As Allison posted on Wednesday, the CFPB has proposed a rule obliging nonbanks that it supervises to register the contractual standard terms they use that waive or limit consumer rights. The Bureau would then make the terms public. I think this is a great idea for several reasons. We all know that […]
by Jeff Sovern. During the last Congress, when the House Financial Services Committee was led by Representative Maxine Waters, the Committee included a subcommittee named Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions. Alas, it is no more. It has evidently been replaced by the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy now that Representative McHenry is the […]