Author Archives: Jeff Sovern

Debt Collector Doings

The American Banker recently published a story, Courthouse 'Rocket Dockets' Give Debt Collectors Edge Over Debtors, about how consumers feel pressured to settle debt cases after receiving summonses to courthouse settlement conferences with debt collectors. An excerpt: At first glance these sessions resemble legally mandated mediation: they take place in courtrooms and are administered by […]

House Republicans Wasting More Time Trying to Weaken the CFPB

by Jeff Sovern The Wall Street Journal has the story here. The bill would allow other federal agencies to veto Bureau rules more easily.  It is hard to imagine the bill passing the Senate or being signed into law by the president. Meanwhile, the article points out, the clock is ticking on the debt ceiling.

IMF Researchers on the Impact of Foreclosure Laws on the Supply of Credit

Jihad Dagher and Yangfan Sun, both of the International Monetary Fund, have written Borrower Protection and the Supply of Credit: Evidence from Foreclosure Laws.  Here's the abstract: Laws governing the foreclosure process, which vary across jurisdictions, have direct consequences on creditors’ losses from borrower default, and thus, could potentially affect lending decisions. Our empirical strategy […]

Fed Staff Article on Payment Fraud Liability

Sandeep Dhameja, Katy R. Jacob and Richard D. Porter, all of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, have written Clarifying Liability for Twenty-First-Century Payment Fraud, 37 Economic Perspectives (2013).  Here's the abstract: This article examines the governance structure of retail payments in the United States, provides an overview of payment fraud, and discusses in depth […]

How the Obama Administration Can Unilaterally Strike a Blow Against Arbitration Clauses

by Jeff Sovern A theme of the President's state of the union address was that if he cannot achieve his goals by working with Congress, he will pursue those goals unilaterally, to the extent he can, through executive action.  One tool presidents have is the purchasing power of the United States.  The US buys about […]

American Banker: Cordray Loses Cool After House GOP Attacks

by Jeff Sovern Here (behind a paywall). Cordray was testifying before the House Financial Services Committee and, according to the article, was subject to some attacks that seem absurd, at least to me. Excerpt: [Rep. Stevan Pearce, R-N.M] suggested that data collection undertaken by the CFPB could be passed onto political campaigns. "But I will […]

Suffolk Law Review Symposium on Credit Scoring and Reporting Now Available Online

Here. Here's a list of the articles: Credit Reports and Employment: Findings from the 2012 National Survey on Credit Card Debt of Low- and Middle-Income Households  by Amy Traub · Medical Debt and Its Relevance When Assessing Creditworthiness by Mark Rukavina  Discriminatory Effects of Credit Scoring on Communities of Color by Lisa Rice and Deidre Swesnik The Misconception of […]

Paper on the Ethics of Payment Mechanisms

James Angel of Georgetown's Finance Department and Douglas M. McCabe of Georgetown's Management Department have written The Ethics of Payments: Paper, Plastic, or Bitcoin?  Here is the abstract: Individuals and businesses make billions of payments every day in various forms. Payers have choices about what forms of payment they will make, and payees also have […]