That's the name of this article by law professor Frank Pasquale. Here is the abstract: A bad credit score may cost a borrower tens of thousands of dollars, but it is not clear how it is calculated. The formula is a trade secret, immune from scrutiny. Lenders are moving beyond scoring to “credit analytics,” which […]
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In its June 20 decision in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, the Supreme Court held that the Federal Arbitration Act requires enforcement of a class-action ban in an arbitration clause even if forcing the plaintiff to aribtrate individually would make it economically impossible for the plaintiff to vindicate its rights under federal law (in […]
In Joffe v. Google, Inc., the Ninth Circuit held this yesterday: In the course of capturing its Street View photographs, Google collected data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks. Google publicly apologized, but plaintiffs brought suit under federal and state law, including the Wiretap Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2511. Google argues that its data collection did not violate […]
CFPB director Richard Cordray sat down with the Washington Post for this Q&A on what's next for the agency.
Read the third and final part of the Washington Post's investigative report on the District of Columbia's tax lien program that has caused poor people to lose their homes. Part three discusses how "tax officials have made hundreds of mistakes in recent years by counting property owners as delinquent even after they paid their taxes, […]
That's the name of this article by Ellen Goodman concerning disclosure requirements and the First Amendment. Here is abstract: The ability of government to “nudge” with information mandates, or merely to inform consumers of risks, is circumscribed by First Amendment interests that have been poorly articulated. New graphic cigarette warning labels supplied courts with the […]
Responding to the Washington Post's heart-wrenching investigative report this weekend about predatory lien-buying practices causing D.C. homeowners to lose their homes — a story Brian flagged last night — Mayor Vincent Gray promises action "as quickly as possible," reports the Post today: "Gray said he would introduce emergency legislation next week to put a moratorium […]
by Brian Wolfman We've blogged here about the difficulty of altering unhealthy or economically destructive behavior through public-education campaigns or mandated disclosures. Bringing down smoking rates took a lot of work. In 1964, the U.S. government said for the first time that smoking causes cancer. The next year, cigarette packages were required by law to […]
Read it here. Here's the page-one, top-of-the-paper headline in today's Washington Post: This man [pictured above the fold in the Post] owed $134 in property taxes. The District [of Columbia] sold the lien to an investor who foreclosed on his $197,000 home and sold it. He and many other homeowners like him were LEFT WITH […]
Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), individuals and families can buy private health insurance coverage through in state-sponsored markets (also known as "exchnages"). The markets open for business in October 2013. The insurance coverage purchased in those markets will take effect on January 1, 2014. We posted earlier that health insurance premiums will be 50% […]