Mike Saunders, director of military and consumer policy at Veterans Education Success, warns in Millitary.com today that service members and veterans need to be wary of new forms of credit-like products that have popped up in recent years, especially "paycheck advance" products and Income Share Agreements. He explains that current legal protections may not cover […]
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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released the 2020 annual report to Congress on administration of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. According to the CFPB press release, "the report highlights efforts by the CFPB and the Federal Trade Commission to protect consumers, particularly those who have suffered profound financial impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic." […]
Department of Education has announced that it will forgive the student-loan debt of borrowers whose borrower-defense claims have already been approved. The announcement is here. Under the law, students who attended schools that misled them or engaged in other misconduct in violation of certain state laws are eligible for borrower defense to loan repayment forgiveness, […]
Regulation of lawyers is supposed to protect the public. So, then, with the bar exam, which is supposed to protect consumers by keeping unskilled lawyers out of the market. Does it work? That's the topic of Safeguard or Barrier: An Empirical Examination of Bar Exam Cut Scores by Michael Frisby, Sam Erman, and Victor Quintanilla. […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today issued an interpretive rule clarifying that the prohibition against sex discrimination under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B includes sexual orientation discrimination and gender identity discrimination. This prohibition also covers discrimination based on actual or perceived nonconformity with traditional sex- or gender-based stereotypes, and discrimination based on […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last week issued a report warning that, without additional action, widespread evictions and foreclosures will occur after federal, state, and local pandemic protections come to an end. The report finds that more than 11 million families are behind on their rent or mortgage payments: 2.1 million families are behind at […]
by Jeff Sovern Barney Frank is speaking today at the Berkeley Consumer Law Scholars Conference. Here's something I posted in 2015 on his autobiography: I just finished listening to the audio version of Barney Frank's autobiography, Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage, which Frank reads himself. I listened to it […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Virginia, Massachusetts, and New York today sued a company called Libre by Nexus, Inc. and its owners for a predatory immigrant-services scam that traps victims into paying expensive, long-term fees. The complaint alleges that Libre preys on immigrants, primarily Hispanics, who speak little or no English and are being held […]
Consumer journalist David Lazarus of the LA Times has written We’re living in a golden age of scams as fraud reports surge amid pandemic. He notes that "[i]t’s been clear for months that the COVID-19 pandemic has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for scammers, con artists and assorted slimeballs looking to cash in on this most […]
Last week was a busy one for the Federal Trade Commission. Among other things: FTC Acts to Ban Payday Lender From Industry, Forgive Illegal Debt Four Defendants Settle with the FTC for Their Alleged Role in Credit Card Laundering Scheme FTC Sends More than $1.7 Million in Refunds to People who Lost […]