The Federal Trade Commission has charged the LendingClub Corporation with falsely promising consumers that they would receive a loan with “no hidden fees,” when, in actuality, the company deducted hundreds or even thousands of dollars in hidden up-front fees from the loans. The FTC’s complaint alleges that Lending Club recognized that its hidden fee was a […]
by Jeff Sovern Acting CFPB Director John Michael Mulvaney, known as "Mick," has been making a big deal about the fact that the name of the CFPB, or Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the Dodd-Frank Act is the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (or BCFP), even asking that the Associated Press change its stylebook accordingly. […]
By Jeff Sovern During next month’s Teaching Consumer Law Conference, I intend to survey the audience about what topics they would like to have in a consumer law casebook, as part of the process of preparing the fifth edition of our consumer law casebook (with Dee Pridgen and Chris Peterson). I plan to ask whether […]
by Jeff Sovern Hudson Cook partner Allen Denson has written an op-ed for the American Banker, Clock's ticking: White House should name a permanent CFPB director, in which he expresses fear that the Democrats will capture the Senate in the fall, with the result that Democrats will have a say, through the confirmation process, on whom the […]
Law profs Kenneth Abraham and Robert Rabin have written Automated Vehicles and Manufacturer Responsibility for Accidents: A New Legal Regime for a New Era. Here is the abstract: The United States is on the verge of a new era in transportation, requiring a new legal regime. Over the coming decades, there will be a revolution in […]
Norman I. Silber of Hofstra and Steven Stites of Stites & Harbison PLLC have written Merchant Authorized Consumer Cash Substitutes. Here is the abstract: Merchant Authorized Consumer Cash Substitutes (MACCS) have existed in one form or another for hundreds of years although without a generic name. At nineteenth century American railroad construction sites far from established […]
by Jeff Sovern The NY Times has an op-ed, Beyond Starbucks: How Racism Shapes Customer Service. Here’s an excerpt: In one experiment, we emailed approximately 6,000 hotels across the United States from 12 fictitious email accounts. We varied the names of the senders to signal different attributes, such as race and gender, to the recipients. […]
by Jeff Sovern As Allison posted earlier, the CFPB has levied a $1 billion fine on Wells. Some first reactions: A person inclined to give acting director Mulvaney the benefit of the doubt might say that this shows that the Bureau is keeping Mr. Mulvaney's promise to enforce consumer financial protection laws vigorously when that […]
AP reporter Ken Sweet explains that Big Banks Saved $3.6B in Taxes Last Quarter Under New (Tax) Law. An excerpt: The nation's six big Wall Street banks posted record, or near record, profits in the first quarter, and they can thank one person in particular: President Donald Trump. While higher interest rates allowed banks to earn […]
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have fined Wells Fargo $1 billion for forcing customers into car insurance and charging mortgage borrowers unfair fees. CNN Money has the story, here.