The Washington Post reports that the Federal Trade and 12 state attorneys general have formed a task force to crack down on student debt relief scams. "The federal-state initiative, dubbed Operation Game of Loans, is responsible for five cases against companies, such as Student Debt Doctor and American Student Loan Consolidators, accused of misleading borrowers about their ability to lower […]
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I don't post every article about the Consumer Financial Protection bureau rule barring financial services companies from using forced arbitration provisions to impose class-action bans on consumers. But I wanted to pass along this one by CFPB director Richard Cordray responding very directly to a couple of the rule's opponents.
That's a topic of this article by C. Ryan Barber (possibly behind a paywall). That the CFPB enforcement chief is quitting didn't itself strike me as critical news, but the article provided a nice overview of the main issues facing the agency.
Today, my colleagues at U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group released a new report, "Older Consumers in the Financial Marketplace." From the report's executive summary: Older consumers are at risk of harm from predatory financial behavior. An analysis of more than 72,000 financial complaints submitted by older consumers (those 62 years of age and older) […]
On October 5, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued its final rule on payday, vehicle title, and certain high-cost installment loans. The National Consumer Law Center prepared this article describing the rule's coverage, two main provisions, and effective date. The article also lists ways under current law to challenge abusive payday, auto title, and installment […]
The Federal Trade Commission announced to day that it is mailing 227,000 refund checks totaling more than $9.8 million to people who bought “fat burning” and “weight loss” products and other dietary supplements, DVDs, or skin creams, including Pure Green Coffee Bean Plus and RKG Extreme, from Health Formulas LLC and related companies. The average […]
Allen St. John at Consumer Reports has written 6 Easy Opt-Outs to Protect Your Privacy. This article reviews opt-outs such as the national do-not-call registry and a few industry-specific opt-outs to prevent the spread of personal information (for instance, one that applies to major banks and another that will get you off lists to receive "pre-approved" credit […]
That's what Georgetown law prof. Anne Fleming has to say in her Washington Post op-ed Federal regulation of payday loans is actually a win for states’ rights. It includes this defense of federal regulation: Critics of the CFPB rule, such as House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.), argue that federal regulation of these loans […]
That's the topic of Trump University and Presidential Impeachment by law prof Chris Peterson. Here's the abstract: In the final weeks of the 2016 Presidential campaign Donald J. Trump faced three lawsuits accusing him of fraud and racketeering. These ongoing cases focus on a series of wealth seminars called “Trump University” which collected over $40 million from […]
Though consumer arbitration proponents and courts often justify pre-dispute mandatory arbitration (PDMA) through the language of consent — that consumers contract with corporations freely and knowingly — opponents of PDMA understand that PDMA is forced down consumers' throats. With these two visions of arbitration in mind, you may want to read two new issue papers […]