by Brian Wolfman A couple weeks ago, in McMahon v. LVNV Funding (and a companion case), the Seventh Circuit held that debt collectors' letters to consumers offering to "settle" time-barred debts (that is, debts that would be subject to a successful statute-of-limitations defense) could mislead consumers and, thus, could violate the federal Fair Debt Collection […]
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Kevin Davis has written this article reviewing legal issues raised by airbnb, the on-line apartment and home rental site that says it facilitates "[r]ent[als] from people in over 34,000 cities and 192 countries." Among the issues are (1) whether airbnb renters should have business licenses in cities and towns that require them generally, and (2) […]
Some contributors to this blog have expressed general skepticism about the value of disclosure as a means of consumer protection (and have argued that some types of disclosure are more likely to be effective than others). The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is interested in improving disclosures for prepaid cards. Here's how the CFPB describes the […]
by Brian Wolfman Tesla wants to sell its electric cars from its own stores directly to consumers. Some states require consumers to buy new cars from car dealers supposedly on the ground that requiring consumers to go through a dealer promotes competition. Really? Sounds like protectionism for car dealers, doesn't it? Tesla isn't saying that […]
That's one of the conclusions reached by Adam Levitin in his new essay The Politics of Financial Regulation and the Regulation of Financial Politics. Here is the abstract: This review essay considers six recent books on the financial crisis (Bernanke, Blinder, Bair, Barofsky, Connaughton, and Admati & Hellwig). The essay discerns two basic narratives of […]
Guest post by Mark Totten, Associate Professor of Law, Michigan State University College of Law Last week Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a lawsuit against a short-term lender for abusive practices, likely making Illinois the first state to exercise its new powers under the Dodd-Frank Act to enforce the law’s ban on “unfair, deceptive, […]
by John Cook at Gawker
Today, both the FTC and the State of California weighed in regarding the case against Facebook over "Sponsored Stories." (As we've discussed, several objectors are challenging the class settlement in this case because it authorizes Facebook to use minors' images for advertising in violation of seven states' privacy laws.) Although neither the FTC nor California […]
The D.C. Circuit has upheld the Federal Reserve's debit-card transaction fee regulations, as explained in this article by Zoe Tillman. The circuit court's ruling reverses a decision of Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Circuit Judge David Tatel explains the parameters of the ruling right up front: Combining […]
We've told you about the case of Vera Scroggins, who has been documenting the damage caused by fracking the Marcellus Shale in northeastern Pennsylvania. A few months ago, she was hit with an injunction barring her from any property that fracking company Cabot Oil and Gas owns, or to which Cabot leases the mineral rights […]