by Jeff Sovern Last year we blogged about the CFPB's disappointing abusiveness policy statement. But things are different this year and the Bureau has wisely rescinded the Policy Statement, saying that it "was inconsistent with the Bureau’s duty to enforce Congress’s standard and rescinding it will better serve the CFPB’s objective to protect consumers from […]
by Jeff Sovern Yesterday, the Senate Banking Committee split, 12-12 on the vote to confirm FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra to be the next CFPB director. According to Neil Haggerty's report in the American Banker (behind a paywall but available on Lexis), the Senate can still confirm Chopra but it will first require a motion to […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today issued an interpretive rule clarifying that the prohibition against sex discrimination under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B includes sexual orientation discrimination and gender identity discrimination. This prohibition also covers discrimination based on actual or perceived nonconformity with traditional sex- or gender-based stereotypes, and discrimination based on […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last week issued a report warning that, without additional action, widespread evictions and foreclosures will occur after federal, state, and local pandemic protections come to an end. The report finds that more than 11 million families are behind on their rent or mortgage payments: 2.1 million families are behind at […]
by Jeff Sovern Barney Frank is speaking today at the Berkeley Consumer Law Scholars Conference. Here's something I posted in 2015 on his autobiography: I just finished listening to the audio version of Barney Frank's autobiography, Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage, which Frank reads himself. I listened to it […]
by Jeff Sovern You should be able to listen here. The American Banker's Kate Berry has a story here, behind a paywall, unfortunately, but if you have Lexis, you can read it there. Excerpt: [Chopra's] aggressive past statements coupled with the power and high profile that comes with the CFPB job could lead to some […]
Panel I – Antiracist Policy in Consumer Law – March 4, 4:00 PM (All times are CST.) The symposium's first panel will highlight antiracist policy arising in the various areas of consumer law. The panelists' expertise and discussion topics range from historical analysis of racist consumer facing practices to modern analyses of consumer protection most […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Virginia, Massachusetts, and New York today sued a company called Libre by Nexus, Inc. and its owners for a predatory immigrant-services scam that traps victims into paying expensive, long-term fees. The complaint alleges that Libre preys on immigrants, primarily Hispanics, who speak little or no English and are being held […]
Consumer journalist David Lazarus of the LA Times has written We’re living in a golden age of scams as fraud reports surge amid pandemic. He notes that "[i]t’s been clear for months that the COVID-19 pandemic has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for scammers, con artists and assorted slimeballs looking to cash in on this most […]
Here. Excerpt (footnotes omitted): As then-Professor Elena Kagan explained in her famous article, “Presidential Administration,” it is the overriding tendency of recent presidents to harness executive agencies’ rulemaking and other authorities and use them as extensions of their own policy and political agendas. Given the CFPB’s broad authorities, its ample funding through the Federal Reserve, […]