Texas enacted a law in 2019 to protect people in state-regulated health plans from surprise medical billing — that is, outrageous bills for out-of-network care. The law, which goes into effect in January, creates an arbitration process for insurers and providers to negotiate so that fair prices are charged without involving patients. Rules implementing the […]
I am delighted to announce (maybe relieved is more accurate; it's been a lot of work!) that in January West will publish the fifth edition of the consumer law casebook that I co-author with Dee Pridgen and Chris Peterson. I'm looking forward to teaching the updated version of the materials that appeared in the last […]
by Jeff Sovern From Politico's Morning Money Newsletter: KRANINGER PROMISES CLARITY — Our Victoria Guida: “Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathy Kraninger said … her agency will soon provide more clarity on what constitutes an ‘abusive practice’ by sellers of financial products, tackling an issue that has dogged policymakers since the financial crisis. … More broadly, […]
The CFPB's list of rules that it intends to propose or to finalize in the next year is now posted, here. The two rules it expects to finalize this spring are a rule rescinding the 2017 payday lending regulation issued to protect consumers from predatory lending (final rule expected in April 2020) and a cutting […]
At CreditSlips, Professor Adam Levitin writes that a rule proposed today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency "provides that nonbank assignees of loans from banks may charge whatever interest rate the bank may charge." In effect, the proposal "green lights unregulated subprime lending nationwide. In particular, [it] allows unregulated payday lending (although […]
The Federal Trade Commission announced yesterday that it obtained a temporary restraining order halting an operation that bilked consumers out of millions of dollars by pretending to be affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education and falsely promising student loan debt relief. The FTC's press release, with a links to its complaint, is here.
by Paul Alan Levy Because I have written a few pieces about the excesses of the copyright enforcement campaign conducted by Mathew Higbee and his law firm, Higbee and Associates, for nearly a year now I have been getting a steady stream of calls for help from bloggers and others who have received demand letters […]
Stephen Raher has written The Company Store and the Literally Captive Market: Consumer Law in Prisons and Jails, 17 Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal 3 (2019). Here's the abstract: The growth of public expense associated with mass incarceration has led many carceral systems to push certain costs onto the people who are under correctional […]
In 2006, Congress enacted the Military Lending Act, which protects active duty troops by capping interest rates at 36% and provides other safeguards. Now, some members of Congress want to expand those safeguards to protect everyone from high-interest paydays loans with interest rates as high as 200%. NPR has the story, here.
Yesterday, the FTC released guide setting forth rules for when and how online influencers should disclose sponsorships to their followers. The guide is here.