Sarah Rudolph Cole of Ohio State haas written The Federalization of Consumer Arbitration: Possible Solutions. Here is the abstract: Over the past fifteen to twenty years, businesses dramatically increased the use of arbitration clauses in contracts with consumers. Although commentators criticize the use of arbitration to resolve consumer disputes because arbitration lacks the due process […]
Author Archives: Jeff Sovern
Neil L. Sobol of Texas A&M has written Protecting Consumers from Zombie-Debt Collectors, forthcoming in the New Mexico Law Review. Here is the abstract: The debt-collection business is booming, led by a dramatic increase in the sale and collection of defaulted debts. Currently, debt buyers annually purchase more than $100 billion in the face value […]
The Times today published an editorial,What You Don’t Know About Mortgages, about the CFPB's new mortgage TILA/RESPA disclosures. Though the editorial praised some aspects of the disclosure rules, it also called them disappointing, stating [T]he forms fall short in the crucial task of helping consumers assess and compare the total cost of various loans. Without […]
by Jeff Sovern I've just been listening to the National Associate of Retail Collection Attorneys' (NARCA) symposium on debt collection held at GW on October 15 (the recordings are available here). I was particularly struck by Todd Zywicki's remarks in the third panel; the panel was titled "Legal Collections – The Essential Link to a Successful Credit-Based Economy." […]
On the Contracts Prof Blog, as part of a symposium on Nancy Kim's Wrap Contracts: Foundations and Ramifications (Oxford UP 2013). An excerpt: Like asbestos in its heyday, manufacturers and service providers use “wrap contracts” everywhere. They have properties that facilitate commerce but that does not mean that they are not toxic and dangerous for those exposed to […]
James C. Cooper of George Mason has written The Perils of Excessive Discretion: The Elusive Meaning of Unfairness in Section 5 of the FTC Act. Here's the abstract: Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act gives the FTC an undefined mandate to prosecute "unfair methods of competition." For nearly 100 years, the Commission […]
Charles L. Knapp of Hastings has written Unconscionability in American Contract Law: A Twenty-First Century Survey. Here's the abstract: The notion that a court tasked with enforcing a private agreement should be allowed – or even, in some cases, required – to withhold enforcement because of the unfairness of the agreement is not a new […]
So reports Carter Dougherty of Bloomberg. No link available yet. The case, which the Supreme Court would have heard arguments in next month, presented the issue of whether the disparate impact test can be used in FHA cases .
by Jeff Sovern Last week, the Wall Street Journal published a piece about the CFPB's public database of consumer complaints. This excerpt particularly caught my eye: The agency's approach rankles some in the financial industry who say the publication of complaints leads to an unfair and overly negative view of companies. They fault the CFPB […]
Scott Savage and Donald M. Waldman , both of the University of Colorado at Boulder – Department of Economics, have written The Value of Online Privacy. Here is the abstract: We estimate the value of online privacy with a differentiated products model of the demand for Smartphone apps. We study the apps market because it […]