by Jeff Sovern OIRA is the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (formerly headed by Cass Sunstein). It presides over the issuance of regulations by executive agencies, but not independent agencies (at least, not yet) like the CFPB. President Trump has nominated for its director George Mason Professor Neomi Rao, a former clerk for Justice Thomas and […]
Author Archives: Jeff Sovern
Sarah Dadush of Rutgers has written Identity Harm, 89 University of Colorado Law Review (Forthcoming). Here is the abstract: In September 2015, the world learned that Volkswagen had rigged millions of its “clean diesel” vehicles with illegal software designed to cheat emissions tests. Contrary to what had been advertised, the vehicles are anything but clean. The […]
David Freeman Engstrom of Stanford has written Jacobins at Justice: The (Failed) Class Action Revolution of 1978 and the Puzzle of American Procedural Political Economy, 165 University of Pennsylvania Law Review (2017). Here is the abstract: In 1978, top DOJ officials in the Carter Administration floated a revolutionary proposal that would have remade the consumer class […]
by Jeff Sovern Different, that is, from arbitrations over the unauthorized accounts, about which we have reported (Wells has agreed to set aside its arbitration clause in the unauthorized account dispute and settle the claims in a class action; court approval is pending but seems likely). Ira's piece, titled Courts, Regulators Must Stop Wells Fargo’s […]
by Jeff Sovern Last month, Jeffrey Joseph posted Tyrannical CFPB tarnishes July 4th holiday in The Hill. Well, ok; others have so claimed, including House Financial Services Chair Jeb Hensarling. Joseph is described at the end of the op-ed only as "a business professor at the George Washington University School of Business." I was curious to see what […]
Here. Excerpt: Some changes by the Trump administration are already unfolding. The Education Department plans to consolidate the number of federal loan servicing companies from nine to one. Administration officials also have discussed moving the federal loan program from the Education Department to the Treasury Department. Meanwhile, the Trump administration announced plans to roll back […]
by Jeff Sovern Here. Excerpt: Faced with a choice between helping their constituents or helping themselves to a campaign donation haul, House Republicans are siding with deep pockets. All but one of the House’s 234 Republicans voted last month to gut a powerful agency — the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — that banks, credit card issuers, debt collectors […]
Part 1 is here and part 2 is here. Excerpt: In my years of experience representing student loan borrowers, I have consistently seen servicers putting their own interests, or what they perceive to be the government’s interests, first. They rarely counsel student borrowers about the range of student loan relief programs, too often ignoring the fact […]
by Jeff Sovern Next stop should be the full committee, then the House floor.
by Jeff Sovern We posted yesterday about the House Appropriations Bill. I haven't studied the bill, but on a quick look, it contains a number of objectionable provisions from the Financial Choice Act (already passed by the House), including repeal of the CFPB's power to regulate arbitration and payday lenders and to block conduct on […]