"Since 2005, student borrowers have been unable to discharge their private student loans through the process of bankruptcy. But that could soon change after a group of [13] senators introduced a bill aimed at addressing the current student debt crisis by restoring the bankruptcy code to hold private student loans in the same regard as other private […]
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The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports: The Food and Drug Administration is again warning consumers of dangerous weight loss supplements that contain pharmaceutical drugs, including the weight loss drug Meridia, which was pulled from the market in 2010 for safety reasons. Four of the five weight loss supplements — Black Mamba Hyperrush, Diablos ECA Fir Caps, […]
The Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have reauthorized their memorandum of understanding. The memorandum outlines the working relationship between the two agencies and is designed to coordinate efforts to protect consumers and avoid duplication of enforcement and regulatory efforts.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday released a report on legal violations it has uncovered. The CFPB "found deceptive student loan debt collection practices, unfair and deceptive overdraft practices, mortgage origination violations, fair lending violations, and mishandled disputes by consumer reporting agencies." According to the report, "CFPB supervisory resolutions resulted in remediation of $19.4 million […]
…is the lesson of this informative interview from NPR's Fresh Air, which explains why it's risky to transport oil long distances in rail cars designed in the 1960s for non-flammable products. Forty-seven people were killed when flaming oil from a 2013 derailment in Canada engulfed an entire restaurant. Terrifying. You can listen to the story […]
As our readers know, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau just issued its DoddFrank-mandated study on consumer arbitration. The CFPB has announced that on Thursday, April 2, 2015, it will conduct a "roundtable" on the topic. If you want to attend you must RSVP by sending an email to communityaffairs@cfpb.gov. The roundtable will take place at […]
Many posts on this blog have noted the difficulty in achieving consumer protection through disclosure (including disclosure through product labeling). If that interests you, you may want to read Science-Based Food Labels: Improving Regulations and Preventing Consumer Deception Through Limited Information Disclosure Requirements by Joshua Dhyani. (Note that, at page 33, Dhyani's piece prominently displays […]
The D.C. Court of Appeals has ruled that under District law, a decision enforcing an arbitration clause is immediately appealable. This ruling, based on a D.C. arbitration reform law from 2007, corrects a pro-arbitration imbalance that had previously existed in the District and continues to exist in most jurisdictions: the denial of a motion to […]
by Paul Alan Levy In a two-page per curiam ruling, the Fifth Circuit has affirmed the decision of Judge Sam Cummings of the Northern District of Texas to dismiss, on the face of the complaint, Lanham Act claims brought by Clark Baker and his “Office of Scientific and Medical Justice” against a blogger who created […]
Today a broad group of educational, legal, human rights, and media organizations sued the NSA over what it calls "Upstream surveillance," under which, the complaint alleges, the NSA vacuums up for review all data that travels across the internet, regardless of whether that data comes from or to a specific NSA target. Key allegations from […]