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 […]
Category Archives: Uncategorized
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 […]
Amanda Werner of Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen attended the Equifax hearing today to draw attention to forced arbitration and make the point that forced arbitration gives corporations a monopoly on justice. Amanda seems to have attracted as much attention as the former Equifax CEO who was testifying. Below is a small sample […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today issued an interim final rule and a proposed rule "to provide mortgage servicers more flexibility and certainty around requirements to communicate with certain borrowers under the Bureau’s 2016 mortgage servicing amendments. The interim final rule gives servicers more flexibility regarding when to communicate about foreclosure prevention options with borrowers […]
Our readers may be interested in this story by Michael Scarcella on the contentious oral argument today before the Supreme Court in Epic Systems v. Lewis (and two cases consolidated with it), perhaps one of the most important arbitration cases the Court has ever heard. The question presented by one of the pro-arbitration parties is Whether an agreement that […]
"Black people struggling with debts are far less likely than their white peers to gain lasting relief from bankruptcy, according to a ProPublica analysis. Primarily to blame is a style of bankruptcy practiced by lawyers in the South." ProPublica's full story is here.