Category Archives: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Clarke & Zywicki Paper on Payday Lending and Bank Overdraft Protection

Robert L. Clarke of Bracewell & Giuliani LLP and Todd J. Zywicki of George Mason University (Zywicki notes in an "about the authors" that he is a former director of the FTC's Office of Policy Planning but omits his links to the industry) have written Payday Lending, Bank Overdraft Protection, and Fair Competition at the Consumer […]

Times Evaluations of the TILA/RESPA Disclosure Rules and the QRM-QM Proposal

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 […]

CFPB Files Brief Opposing Tribal Lenders’ Quasi-Preemption Argument

Last week, the CFPB filed an amicus brief in the Second Circuit in Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians et al. v. New York Department of Financial Services, a case in which online tribal payday lenders are challenging regulation by New York State. The CFPB's brief takes issue with the lenders' argument that Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act and […]

After Mount Holly: What’s Next?

by Deepak Gupta Jeff and Brian have already posted on the news of a final settlement in Mount Holly. Although we've known all along that a settlement was likely, this is still big news. Let's put this in perspective: For the second time in just two years, an eleventh-hour settlement before oral argument has denied the […]

Debate with Senator Vitter on the CFPB & Consumer Law in New Orleans

by Deepak Gupta If you'll be in New Orleans tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 15),  I hope you'll drop by the Hyatt French Quarter for the Louisiana Bar's consumer law seminar. Among other things, Professor Dalie Jimenez of the University of Connecticut (a former CFPB colleague) will discuss her research on debt buyers. At 4pm, you can watch […]

WSJ Article on the CFPB Complaint Databases

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 […]

Town Council to Meet on Settlement in Mount Holly Tonight

by Deepak Gupta We've blogged before about Mount Holly–the Supreme Court case about the future of disparate impact in housing and lending discrimination. (My firm represents current and former Members of Congress in the case). All along, it's seemed possible that Mount Holly would settle before the December oral arguments.  This morning, that's looking even […]

Jeffrey Joseph Op-Ed: Consumer Protection Bureau Bad for Business

by Jeff Sovern In the Detroit News. Professor Joseph refers to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as "purposefully-misnamed," as if members of Congress sat around saying "let's create an agency that will hurt consumers but give it a name that suggests it will protect them." So what does he think is wrong with the Bureau? […]

The Nation: The Scholars Who Shill for Wall Street

by Jeff Sovern I frequently post links to scholars' articles on consumer law issues, including pieces by George Mason's Todd J. Zywicki, like this one.  The Nation recently published a piece reporting on professors who also work for Wall Street-funded operations without disclosing that in, as The Nation put it, their "university profile, CV, byline […]

Another Perspective on the Recess Appointments Cases

Is Noel Canning v. NLRB a classic separation-of-powers conflict between the Senate and the President, or a false controversy created by the House of Representatives, which has no business interfering with appointments? I argue the latter in a short essay forthcoming in the Harvard Law Review's online companion, the Forum. I have a few more […]