M. Todd Henderson of Chicago has written Self-Regulation for the Mortgage Industry. Here's the abstract: This Article proposes an alternative to direct government regulation of mortgage brokers: self-regulation of the mortgage industry that mimics the arguably successful self-regulation of the securities industry that has occurred over the past two centuries. Although not without its problems, […]
Category Archives: Consumer Law Scholarship
Dustin A. Zacks of King, Nieves & Zacks PLLC has written Robo-Litigation, 60 Cleveland State Law Review 867 (2013). Here's the abstract: The recent housing crisis increased demand for attorneys to process foreclosures through state courts. This increase in demand was coupled with a desire for the fastest and cheapest legal services available. As a […]
by Jeff Sovern Yesterday, I was on a panel at the Annual Meeting of the American Council on Consumer Interests, along with Dr. Yilan Xu, a professor at the University of Illinois in agricultural and consumer economics. Dr. Xu's talk concerned a natural experiment in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland had enacted an anti-predatory lending ordinance which was […]
The prolific Chris Jay Hoofnagle of Berkeley and Jan Whittington of the Department of Urban Design and Planning, University of Washington have written The Price of 'Free': Accounting for the Cost of the Internet's Most Popular Price, forthcoming in 61 UCLA Law Review (2014). Here's the abstract: Offers of “free” services abound on the internet. […]
Richard A. Bales and Mark B. Gerano, both of Northern Kentucky have written Oddball Arbitration, 30 Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal (2013). Here's the abstract: Congress passed the FAA in 1925 to resolve commercial disputes involving merchants. Since then, the Supreme Court has dramatically expanded the scope of the FAA and applied it in […]
Dustin A. Zacks of King, Nieves & Zacks PLLC has written Revenge of the Clerks: MERS Confronts County Clerk and Qui Tam Lawsuits, 32 Banking & Financial Services Policy Report No. 1 (2013). Here's the abstract: Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) has faced unceasing controversy from litigators and scholars for its role in foreclosures, […]
Marc Lane Roark of Missouri has written Payment Systems, Consumer Tragedy, and Ineffective Remedies, forthcoming in 86 St. John's Law Review (2013). Here's the abstract: Payment methods like the Starbucks Rewards Card, while imitating liquidity, are challenged by confidence-detracting barriers of too little consumer knowledge and a lack of appropriate remedies. Starbucks operates as a […]
Arpan Sura and Robert A. DeRise, both of Arnold & Porter, have written Conceptualizing Concepcion: The Continuing Viability of Arbitration Regulations. Here's the abstract: Section 2 of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) provides that arbitration agreements “shall be valid, irrevocable, and enforceable, save upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the […]
Ginger Chouinard of New Mexico has written The 'Other' Credit Report: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You. Here's the abstract: Nearly 90% of financial institutions use ChexSystems or similar account screening reports in their account opening process, yet they are under no duty to disclose this to consumers until an account is denied due […]
Nancy Welsh of Penn State has written Mandatory Predispute Consumer Arbitration, Structural Bias, and Incentivizing Procedural Safeguards, 42 Southwestern University Law Review 187 (2012). She presented the paper at the AALS annual conference. Here's the abstract: Within the past several decades, there has been an explosion in the creation, institutionalization and use of “alternative” dispute […]