Author Archives: Mike Landis

New Report from the Center for Responsible Lending Examines the Repayment Experiences of Payday Loan Borrowers in Colorado

Today, the Center for Responsible Lending released a new report examining the repayment experiences of borrowers of longer-term payday loans in Colorado. The report is based on focus groups that were conducted in four Colorado cities in September 2017. The full report is worth the read, but here are the key takeaways: In many cases, […]

The National Consumer Law Center Releases Updated Survey of State UDAP Laws

Today, the National Consumer Law Center released an updated version of its very helpful and informative 50-state UDAP survey. The page with links to the full report, executive summary, key recommendations, maps, charts, and appendices is available here. The press release is available here. Since the last survey, which was conducted in 2009, NCLC finds […]

Berkeley Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice

With a $3.5 million gift from Elizabeth Cabraser, Berkeley Law is launching the Berkeley Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice. Additional info is available here. According to the press release, the center will "deliver research and analysis to fuel meaningful policy change. It will produce white papers, file amicus briefs in consumer cases in […]

Older Consumers in the Financial Marketplace

Today, my colleagues at U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group released a new report, "Older Consumers in the Financial Marketplace." From the report's executive summary: Older consumers are at risk of harm from predatory financial behavior. An analysis of more than 72,000 financial complaints submitted by older consumers (those 62 years of age and older) […]

CFPB Finalizes Payday Lending Rule

According to the press release: "The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today finalized a rule that is aimed at stopping payday debt traps by requiring lenders to determine upfront whether people can afford to repay their loans. These strong, common-sense protections cover loans that require consumers to repay all or most of the debt at […]

Holding Equifax Accountable

Last week, in an opinion piece in the Washington Post, WashU law professor Danielle D'Onfro proposed one way to hold Equifax accountable: "some old-fashioned judge-made doctrine." According to D'Onfro, "the data economy has outgrown our consumer protection regulations and we are on our own." She refers to a "Swiss cheese system of regulations that carry […]

“Too Popular to Pick a Public Fight With”

Many have probably already seen yesterday's article in the New York Times about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's popularity getting in the way of Republicans' efforts to weaken it, but just in case… Relying on emails and other documents obtained in public records requests, the article describes the CFPB's strategy to shield itself from the […]

Ninth Circuit affirms cy pres-only settlement in In re Google Referrer Header Privacy Litigation

Before jumping into my first post, I wanted to quickly introduce myself. I'm Mike Landis, Litigation Director for U.S. PIRG. (Obligatory disclaimer: my posts express my individual views only and not those of U.S. PIRG.) I've been a reader of this blog for sometime, and I'm excited to now participate as a contributor. My goal […]