by Deepak Gupta One of the most important but under-appreciated features of the Dodd-Frank Act was its establishment of the Financial Stability Oversight Council—a new entity with a clear statutory mandate to identify and respond to systemic risks to the entire U.S. economy. The authority was inspired by the failures of entities like the insurance […]
Category Archives: Consumer Litigation
Here's the text of CFPB Director Richard Cordray's remarks on the arbitration report, to be delivered at today's field hearing in Newark. He summarizes the legal backdrop to the Bureau's report, its empirical approach, and its key findings (which I've highlighted in bold). Well worth reading in full. Prepared Remarks of Richard Cordray Director […]
by Deepak Gupta In today's Los Angeles Times, consumer columnist David Lazarus takes a look at the practice of for-profit debt collectors renting out the seal and letterhead of local California prosecutors — the target of a new class-action lawsuit that our firm filed yesterday in federal court in San Francisco. The practice was condemned in […]
by Deepak Gupta Since its inception, this blog has covered the pernicious practice of prosecutors who rent out their name and authority to private for-profit debt collectors. As readers may recall, these debt collectors use official-looking letterhead to threaten consumers who have accidentally bounced checks for household purchases — consumers are told they'll face criminal […]
by Deepak Gupta Perhaps betting that the third time's a charm, the Supreme Court this morning once again granted a petition over whether disparate-impact claims — based on seemingly neutral practices with discriminatory effects — are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act. The case, Texas Deparatment of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities […]
by Deepak Gupta When Roz Terrill wrote a $41 check at the local Goodwill store to buy clothes for her two special-needs children, she had no idea it would lead to threats of criminal prosecution against her. Because of a banking mix-up, Roz’s check did not clear. Months later, she received a letter that looked […]
by Deepak Gupta The payday lenders' main trade association, the Community Financial Services Association, brought an unusual lawsuit this week against three federal regulators — the Fed, the FDIC, and the OCC — in an effort to challenge a controversial federal initiative known as "Operation Choke Point." The case was filed in federal district court […]
Co-blogger Paul Bland, the new Executive Director of Public Justice, was recently interviewed by Media Matters. In an engaging interview in his office Paul discusses his singular career as a champion for consumer rights, the importance of class actions as a means of challenging corporate wrondoing, and the pro-corporate bent of the Roberts Court. It's a […]
by Stephen Gardner The Board of Directors of the National Association of Consumer Advocates adopted the Third Edition of its Standards and Guidelines for Litigating and Settling Class Actions on May 13 (Download here), continuing a tradition of setting high standards for the ways consumer class actions are handled that began with the first Guidelines adopted in […]
Does federal law require debt collectors to give consumers the right to make oral disputes (as the Second and Ninth Circuits have held), or may debt collectors insist that any disputes be made in writing (as the Third Circuit has held)? Today, the Fourth Circuit issued a short published opinion agreeing with the Second and […]