Category Archives: Consumer Law Scholarship

Jennifer Martin Paper on Self-Help Repossession

Jennifer S. Martin of St. Thomas has written The Repo Man Did What? A Secured Creditor's Article 9 Right to Repossess Collateral and When Lenders Have Liability for Repossessions Gone Awry, 28-5 Commercial Damages Reporter 1 (2013). Here's the abstract:   This Article observes that there is not a clear consensus among courts in how […]

Article on Behavioral Economics and Consumer Credit

Ryan Bubb and Richard H. Pildes, both of NYU, have written How Behavioral Economics Trims Its Sails and Why, 127 Harvard Law Review (2014).  Here's the abstract: This article argues that the preference of behavioral law and economics (BLE) for regulatory approaches that preserve “freedom of choice” has led to incomplete policy analysis and ineffective […]

Study Finds Housing Discrimination Against Same-Sex Couples

Samantha Friedman of SUNY University at Albany and Angela Reynolds, Susan Scovill, Florence R. Brassier, Ron Campbell, and McKenzie Ballou, all of . Davis and Company, Inc. have written An Estimate of Housing Discrimination Against Same-Sex Couples.  Here's the abstract: This is the first large-scale, paired-testing study to assess housing discrimination against same-sex couples in […]

Study on Statutes Protecting Food Industry From Obesity-Related Health Claims

Cara L. Wilking of the Public Health Advocacy Institute and Richard A. Daynard of Northeastern have written Beyond Cheeseburgers: The Impact of Commonsense Consumption Acts on Future Obesity-Related Lawsuits, Food and Drug Law Journal, Vol. 68, No. 3, pp. 229 -329, 2013.  Here is the abstract: Since 2004, 25 states have passed Commonsense Consumption Acts […]

Hockett: Foreclosure Prevention and Mitigation Options

Robert C. Hockett of Cornell has written Post-Bubble Foreclosure-Prevention and -Mitigation Options in Seattle.  Here's the abstract: This paper, commissioned by the Seattle City Council, takes the measure of Seattle's post-bubble negative equity and foreclosure problems, estimates numbers of underwater loans that have benefitted by existing federal, state and local programs, and recommends several options […]

Strandburg Paper on Online Privacy’s Market Failure

Katherine J. Strandburg of NYU has written Free Fall:  the Online Market's Consumer Preference Disconnect, University of Chicago Law Forum (2013).  Here's the abstract: Do Internet users “pay” for online products and services with personal data? The common analogy between online data collection for behaviorally targeted advertising and payment for purchases is seriously misleading. There […]

Sovern Paper: Cost-Benefit Analysis and Consumer Protection

by Jeff Sovern I've posted a paper on SSRN, Can Cost-Benefit Analysis Help Consumer Protection Laws? Or at Least Benefit Analysis?, forthcoming in the University of California-Irvine Law Review.  Here's the abstract: Cost-benefit analysis is often troubling to consumer advocates. But this article argues that in some circumstances it may help consumers. The article gives […]

Lahav Paper: Symmetry and Class Action Litigation

Alexandra D. Lahav of Connecticut has written Symmetry and Class Action Litigation, 60 U.C.L.A.L. Rev.(2013).  Here's the abstract: In ordinary litigation, parties often have different resources to devote to their lawsuit. This is a problem because the adversarial system is predicated on two (or more) parties, equal and opposite one another, making their best arguments […]

Skiba Paper: Tax Rebates and Payday Borrowing

Paige Marta Skiba of Vanderbilt has written Tax Rebates and the Cycle of Payday Borrowing.  Here's the abstract: I use evidence from a $300 tax rebate to test whether receipt of this cash infusion by payday borrowers affects the likelihood of borrowing, loan sizes, or default behavior. Results from fixed-effects models show that the rebate […]

Kar Comments on Boilerplate

Robin Bradley Kar of Illinois has written The Challenge of Boilerplate, forthcoming in Jotwell.  Here's the abstract: Although Margaret Jane Radin is perhaps best known for her work in property theory, she has recently been focusing her formidable intellect on questions of contract. Boilerplate reflects her first book length treatment of these topics, and there […]