The Dodd-Frank Act prohibits “unfair, deceptive, or abusive” acts and practices by the financial companies regulated under the Act, and gives the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau authority to enforce the prohibition. The Act defines "abusive" as an act or practice that: (1) Materially interferes with the ability of a consumer to understand a term or […]
by Jeff Sovern A number of sources have reported on a survey of more than one thousand metastatic breast cancer patients presented recently at an American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) symposium that found that debt collectors had contacted about half about cancer care bills. HCP said that 49% had heard from debt collectors while AccountRecovery.net put […]
Here, by Brad Wolverton & Alex Richards. I don't want to quote too much, so here is an incomplete excerpt: The federal watchdog agency created to protect consumers is not regulating two of the country’s fastest-growing financial institutions despite receiving voluminous complaints about them, NerdWallet has found. Escaping scrutiny are Green Dot Corp. — which […]
Here. Excerpt from Jeff Bater's report: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took only three enforcement actions in the third quarter of 2018 and is on pace for the lowest yearly total in its seven years of existence. The bureau levied $1.6 million in penalties in the three-month period ending in September, compared to $7.3 million […]
by Jeff Sovern Acting CFPB director Mick Mulvaney famously wrote that he would not push the envelope. He explained: That entire governing philosophy of pushing the envelope frightens me a little. We are government employees, and we work for the people. That means everyone: those who use credit cards and those who provide the credit; […]
Reuters reports that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is considering sanctions against Citigroup for denying minority customers the kinds of mortgage discounts that the bank offered to many other borrowers. Citigroup, while performing a review to ensure it adhered to fair lending standards, reportedly found that some minority borrowers were not getting […]
Law prof Albert Lin has written President Trump's War on Regulatory Science. Here is the abstract: The Trump administration has taken numerous actions that appear hostile to scientists, scientific research, and scientific data, leading some observers to assert that a war on science is underway. A more precise characterization is that the Trump administration is engaging […]
The Kentucky Supreme Court's unanimous decision is Northern Kentucky Area Development District v. Snyder. The first two paragraphs of the court's opinion summarizes its reasoning: Kentucky Revised Statute (“KRS”) 336.700(2) prohibits employers from conditioning employment on an existing employee’s or prospective employee’s agreement to “waive, arbitrate, or otherwise diminish any existing or future claim, right, or […]
In a filing last night, the Department of Education announced that it will miss a November 1 statutory deadline to publish a rule that rolls back protections for student loan borrowers and students defrauded by for-profit colleges. Those protections, part of what’s known as the Obama-era borrower defense rule, were set to go into effect […]
Citing the U.S. Supreme Court's precedent in favor of arbitration, California Governor Jerry Brown yesterday vetoed a bill that would end the practice of employers requiring workers to use private arbitration instead of the courts to resolve sexual harassment complaints. The bill would not have barred workers from voluntarily opting for arbitration, only barred predispute […]