Author Archives: Jeff Sovern

Judge Debevoise on the Wackiness of the Fair Credit Reporting Act

by Jeff Sovern Burrell v. DFS Services, LLC, 753 F.Supp.2d 438 (D.N.J. 2010) is a couple years old now but we haven't blogged about it before and the problem it describes has not been fixed so it still merits atttention.  Burrell was victimized by an identity thief and complained about it to the creditors rather […]

Victor Stango: Are Payday Lending Markets Competitive?

Victor Stango of UC Davis Graduate School of Management has written Are Payday Lending Markets Competitive? Regulation (Fall 2012) at 26.  Here's the abstract: The rapid and widespread growth of the payday loan market has sparked considerable controversy, in part regarding the “high” prices charged for these loans. This article presents several new pieces of […]

CFPB Head Cordray Joins Regulators’ Letter Opposing Agency Review Bill

The American Banker has the story here and here is the Chicago Tribune's coverage.  The bill would require the CFPB, as well as other independent federal agencies, to jump through additional hoops before adopting regulations.  Many consumer groups have also opposed the bill in a letter.

National Law Journal Article on What Happens to CFPB if Romney Wins

Here. An excerpt: Lawyers believe Cordray will remain at the helm of the agency until his appointment expires in December 2013, though some predict he'll step down a few months early to run for governor of Ohio. As a result, the CFPB — at least initially — is likely to hold course. That means more […]

Shay Lavie Paper on Class Actions

Shay Lavie of Harvard has written The Malleability of Collective Litigation, forthcoming in the Notre Dame Law Review. Here is the abstract: In Wal-Mart v. Dukes (131 S.Ct. 2541 [2011]), Wal-Mart avoided class action because employment decisions were made by local supervisors. However, it was Wal-Mart who chose to delegate discretion; by doing so, it […]

Paper on Whether the Treatment of Student Loans in Bankruptcy Should be Changed

Daniel A. Austin of Northeastern has written The Indentured Generation: Bankruptcy and Student Loan Debt, 53 Santa Clara Law Review (forthcoming)  Here's the abstract: A generation of Americans has borrowed heavily for their education, and hundreds of thousands of them are deeply in debt. Some 37 million Americans owe a total of approximately $1 trillion […]

HufPo Report: Suit Charges Debt Collector Told Disabled Vet He Should Have Died

Here.  An excerpt from what the collector supposedly said: "F— you! Pay us your money! You can't afford an attorney. You owe us. I hope your wife divorces your a–. If you would have served our country better you would not be a disabled veteran living off social security while the rest of us honest […]