The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today issued a report that found that attempts by online lenders to debit payments from a consumer’s checking account add a steep, hidden cost to online payday loans. Half of online borrowers rack up an average of $185 in bank penalties because at least one debit attempt overdrafts or fails. […]
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Earlier this year, we flagged Maryland's pending legislation (H.B. 131) to protect the rights of consumers to speak up — critically, if they like — about the businesses they have done business with. California passed a similar bill in 2014. So did the U.S. Senate in 2015; the federal bill now awaits action in the […]
Patients of Dr. Allen Sossan of South Dakota claim that he performed unnecessary medical procedures or performed procedures improperly on them. They sued Dr. Sossan and the hospitals that credentialed him. One of the claims is that the hospitals wrongfully credentialed Dr. Sossan to practice medicine at their institutions despite knowing that he had lost […]
Recently, we flagged an excellent segment from John Oliver on credit reporting. In light of that piece, consider this case, now on appeal to the Seventh Circuit: Toyota Motor Credit Corp. believed Jeffrey Brill owed Toyota an outstanding debt on a car lease. Toyota reported that debt to Trans Union. In fact, Brill’s name on the lease […]
The gap between rich and poor, life expectancy, and social security benefits are discussed in this article by Josh Zumbrun, which in turn discusses recent studies by a Stanford University economist and the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Here is an excerpt of Zumbrun's article: A growing body of research in recent years points to the striking fact […]
When policymakers and journalists talk about college admissions (as they often do this time of year, because it's admission season), it tends to sound like this, Fivethirtyeight recounts: High school seniors spend months visiting colleges; writing essays; wrangling letters of recommendation; and practicing, taking and retaking an alphabet soup of ACTs, SATs and AP exams. […]
Check out this ominous piece from the Wall St. Journal, "How Private Is Your Tax Return?" which discusses the privacy practices of private preparers and tax software regarding filers' private information.
What is it about presidential campaigns that brings out some of the worst examples of trademark bullying? Two years ago, we shot down bogus a trademark demand by the Ready for Hillary pre-campaign PAC, which tried to suppress Liberty Maniac's “Ready for Oligarchy” parody. (Readers of this blog may remember Liberty Maniacs (and its owner, […]
Last week, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that state labor law prohibits employers from forcing workers to perform their job on their feet when their tasks could be done sitting down. The ruling, which requires consideration of the totality of circumstances in determining whether seats are required for a particular job, was handed down […]
As you may have heard, on March 30, a D.C. district court threw out a designation by the federal Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) that MetLife needs to comply with special government safeguards under Dodd-Frank for entities whose "material financial distress" could "pose a threat to the financial stability of the United States." (Here's coverage […]