The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today refused to reconsider its opinion last fall upholding the settlement of a class action asserting claims based on Facebook's "Beacon" program, under which Facebook posted information about purchases and video rentals Facebook users made from companies that participated in the program. The settlement provides for […]
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I thought our readers might be interested in reading this speech given today by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray to the National Association of Attorneys General. Among other things, he stressed (1) a need to make mortage lending simpler and more transparent; (2) a preference that more consumer-protective state laws not be preempted; […]
The Supreme Court held today that an unsuccessful FDCPA plaintiff in a non-frivolous case must pay the defendant's costs (which could be hundreds or occasionally, as in this case, thousands of dollars), even though the statute's text provides for attorney-fee- and cost-shifting only where "an action under this section was brought in bad faith and […]
In a 5-4 decision today, the Supreme Court held that lawyers, journalists and human-rights workers whose work requires that they communicate with individuals abroad whose communications the federal government is likely to target under its broad new surveillance authority lack standing to challenge the statute granting the government that broad authority. The majority dismisses as […]
A number of significant legal opinions were released today on procedural and/or substantive issues affecting consumers. We'll be highlighting each of them in turn today. First, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a settlement of three class action lawsuits arising out of the fraudulent signing of affidavits without personal knowledge in order to […]
That's the title of this article in which law professor Suzanna Sherry argues that criticisms of "judicial activism" are misguided. If anything, Sherry says, the Supreme Court should override federal and state legislative judgments more often than it does. She notes that the Supreme Court's "universally condemned" decisions more often left legislation standing than struck […]
by Brian Wolfman Need another reason to avoid next year's long, self-congratulatory Oscars' awards? How about that the movie industry is the principal lobbyist for, and the prime beneficiary of, government largesse that may be eating away at your kids' school funding or support for your local fire fighters? We know that tax-paid consumer services […]
Sarah Kliff reports here that Researchers combed through data available from the 15 states that publicly post all requests for rate increases in the individual market. They found that, in 2009, 74 percent of all requests came in above 10 percent. By 2012, that number had fallen to 35 percent. Preliminary data for 2013, which […]
by Brian Wolfman Think about these things: The "tax gap." In 2006, the "tax gap" — the difference between the taxes owed by Americans and the taxes that they pay — was a stunning $450 billion. The IRS then went out and enforced the tax laws and recovered $65 billion, making the net tax gap […]
by Jeff Sovern Today's Times Haggler column, Calling Out the Robocaller, written by David Segal, and about a troublesome telemarketer, Your Financial Ladder, operated by the Helfenstines, includes an ominous discussion about the effectiveness of a Florida consumer protection agency: [A] spokesman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says it recently started an investigation […]