Category Archives: Uncategorized

CFPB proposes adding narratives to complaint database

The CFPB’s Consumer Complaint Database is a publicly accessible, online database of consumer financial complaints. It includes anonymous information about the complaints received, including the date of submission, the consumer’s zip code, the relevant company, the product type, the issue the consumer is complaining about, and the company’s response. Although when a consumer enters information […]

House Hearing on Operation Choke Point

In March 2013, the Department of Justice revealed that it was working with banking regulators to prevent fraudsters from accessing consumer bank accounts by choking off their access to electronic payments. DOJ calls the program "Operation Choke Point." See prior blog posts here and here. The Operation has come under attack from Republicans in Congress […]

Citigroup to pay $7 billion for misleading investors about mortgage-backed bonds

As Bloomberg reports today, Citigroup Inc. agreed to pay $7 billion in fines and consumer relief to resolve government claims that it misled investors about the quality of mortgage-backed bonds sold before the 2008 financial crisis. But is it enough? The Bloomberg article goes on to quote Eric Holder praising the agreement: “The bank’s misconduct […]

Ending Class Actions as We Know Them: Rethinking the American Class Action

That's the name of this article by law professor Linda Mullenix. Here is the abstract: Class actions have been a feature of the American litigation landscape for over 75 years. For most of this period, American-style class litigation was either unknown or resisted around the world. Notwithstanding this chilly reception abroad, American class litigation has […]

Number/percentage of Americans lacking health insurance plummeting as Affordable Care Act is implemented

As this article by David Nather puts it: "The evidence is piling up now: Obamacare really does seem to be helping the uninsured." For instance, read this study (9.5 million fewer adults lacking health insurance after first ACA open enrollment period); this study (8 million more insured, with number of uninsured dropping in all states including non-Medicaid […]

Read objections to the proposed NFL concussion class-action settlement filed by former NFL players

On Wednesday, we told you that federal district judge Anita Brody in Philadelphia has preliminarily approved a class-action settlement in a case brought by former NFL football players against the NFL. The suit claims that the NFL is responsible for their serious concussion-related injuries. Some former players have already told the court that they don't […]

CFPB takes action against lender for “pushing payday borrowers into a cycle of debt”

From the CFPB's news release: Today [July 10], the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took enforcement action against ACE Cash Express, one of the largest payday lenders in the United States, for pushing payday borrowers into a cycle of debt. The CFPB found that ACE used illegal debt collection tactics – including harassment and false […]

FTC sues Amazon for charges incurred through kids’ apps

From the FTC’s press release: Amazon.com, Inc. has billed parents and other account holders for millions of dollars in unauthorized in-app charges incurred by children, according to a Federal Trade Commission complaint filed today [July 10] in federal court. The FTC’s lawsuit seeks a court order requiring refunds to consumers for the unauthorized charges and […]