by Jeff Sovern Allison blogged earlier about Kate Berry's American Banker article, CFPB signals pullback on discrimination cases. I wanted to say a bit more about this area. Depending on how you count, there are basically three ways to prove credit discrimination cases. One, that is theoretically possible, but that you virtually never see in practice, […]
This article from the American Banker discusses Acting Director Mulvaney's intention to re-examine how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforces the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which prohibits discrimination in lending. "Mulvaney's comments suggest the CFPB may make it harder for protected groups, including minorities and women, to claim they were adversely impacted by discriminatory practices. […]
That's the name of this article by Devin Leonard and Elizabeth Dexheimer. A key passage sets out what Mulvaney has done already and his vision for the agency: Six months into his tenure, Mulvaney is doing everything he can to transform the CFPB from a regulatory crown jewel of liberals into one that he says follows the […]
Ben White at Politico has written this piece on surging gas prices and whether the cost to consumers is gobbling up gains, if any, to the middle class from the tax cut. Here's an excerpt: President Donald Trump is hoping a wave of tax-cut-fueled economic euphoria will boost his approval ratings and his party’s political fortunes this fall. A […]
Here, in the Daily News. Excerpt: Mulvaney once called the bureau a "sad, sick joke" and co-sponsored a bill to eliminate it. The solution he has adopted to run an agency he thinks should not exist is to "be a good bureaucrat," and do what the law requires — but no more. Mulvaney even extends […]
This NY Times article by Stacy Cowley and Emily Flitter explains that A federal regulator on Wednesday encouraged banks to offer small, short-term loans to people in need of emergency cash, the Trump administration’s latest relaxation of banking regulations and a rare moment of common ground with consumer groups that oppose payday lending. The Office of […]
A strong editorial from the New York Times today about the failure of the Department of Education to protect students from predatory colleges and the House of Representative's bill to make the situation worse, here.
by Jeff Sovern When the Bureau fined Wells Fargo $1 billion, it did so using its power to prohibit unfair practices in 12 USC 5531(c), 5536(a)(1)(B). (see pages 9 and 12 of the consent order). House Financial Services Committee Chair Jeb Hensarling's Financial Choice Act, passed by the House, would eliminate that power. But don't […]
by Jeff Sovern At the Teaching Consumer Law conference, on Friday, I asked questions of those who have taught consumer law recently or intend to teach it in the near future. The questions, in a somewhat different form because of the limits of the survey software, were drawn from the survey that appears below the […]
by Jeff Sovern Last Thursday, I posted on the blog Republican FTC Commissioners Name Payday Lender Lawyer to Run Consumer Protection Bureau Over Dem Commissioners' Objections. Alan Kaplinsky posted in response A reply to Professor Sovern, in which he wrote that "Jeff’s characterization of Andrew as a “Payday Lender Lawyer” in the title of his blog post […]