American consumers hate hidden airline fees. Unfortunately, siding with airlines, the Fifth Circuit yesterday held that DOT likely lacked authority to issue a rule that would require airlines to more clearly disclose fees associated with checked and carry-on baggage, and cancelling or changing flights. The order arose in a challenge to an April rule, discussed […]
Category Archives: Unfair & Deceptive Acts & Practices (UDAP), including Discrimination
A federal court this month issued an order, in a case filed by the Federal Trade Commission, to temporarily stop a predatory student loan relief scam that targeted Puerto Rican, Spanish-speaking borrowers. According to the FTC’s complaint against USA Student Debt Relief/Start Connecting SAS, operating out of Florida and Cali, Colombia, these entities falsely represented […]
The essay, by Mark Rivett, who both attended a for-profit college and taught at one, is titled I was Trapped in For-Profit College Hell (behind paywall). It’s subtitle is “Predatory schools tricked students like me into assuming huge debt for worthless credit.” Here’s the beginning: “If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject […]
Adam blogged earlier about Townstone but I wanted to say a bit more about what the case tells us about the CFPB’s authority concerning TILA and ECOA. As Adam noted, the Seventh Circuit cited Loper Bright and stated in note 15 that it approached the case “as presenting a question of statutory interpretation subject to […]
The Federal Reserve Board’s Regulation B implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and prohibits creditors from discouraging, on a prohibited basis, applicants or prospective applicants from making or pursuing an application for credit. In 2020, the CFPB, who now enforces the regulation, brought an enforcement action alleging a lender “discouraged black prospective applicants from applying […]
In order to state a claim for deceptive practices, many state consumer protection laws require plaintiffs to prove that the challenged acts or practices are “likely to deceive reasonable consumers.” In an opinion issued today, the Seventh Circuit grappled with the question of what exactly that means. The opinion comes in a class action brought […]
Two new actions by the Federal Trade Commission today: FTC Takes Action Against Online Used Car Dealer Vroom for Deceiving Customers, Failing to Deliver on Time and Provide Required Disclosures FTC Takes Action Against Gig Work Company Arise Virtual Solutions for Deceiving Consumers About Pay in Marketing Its Business Opportunity
The Federal Trade Commission annual Report on Refunds to Consumers tallies the total refunds to consumers in 2023 from FTC enforcement actions at more than $324 million. The report provides a breakdown of the total amount refunded by the FTC nationally, as well as the amount mailed to each state, and also includes a list […]
Today, the FTC filed a lawsuit against in the Northern District of California against Adobe, makers of Acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator, and others, for practices in connection with its “Annual, Paid Monthly” subscription plan. The complaint alleges violations of the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act. From the FTC’s press release: [W]hen consumers purchase a subscription through the […]
Travelers United is a DC-based nonprofit that has sued a number of travel and hospitality providers for putative violations of DC’s consumer protection laws. In one recent case, the organization sued Hilton for their “deceptive Junk Fee practices” that “trick consumers into paying more” to book a hotel room “than they otherwise would.” Travelers United […]