Massachusetts obtains judgment voiding hundreds of illegal loans to consumers in case against online auto title lender

Hundreds of illegal loans made to Massachusetts consumers by an unlicensed online auto title lender are now void pursuant to a judgment announced today by the Massachusetts Attorney General's office. The company has also been permanently barred from operating in Massachusetts, and liens they placed on vehicles have been dissolved with new titles issued to […]

MIT Technology Review: Google Now Tracks Your Credit Card Purchases and Connects Them to Its Online Profile of You

Here.  This is for offline credit card purchases. Surveillance capitalism indeed. Excerpt: Google’s new ability to match people’s offline credit card purchases to their online lives is a stunning display of surveillance capitalism in action.   The capability, which Google unveiled this week, allows the company to connect the dots between the ads that it […]

My American Banker Op-ed: Would Wells scandal have come to light with a defanged CFPB?

Here.  Excerpt: Wells Fargo’s opening of millions of phony accounts using the names of its customers was perhaps the most significant bank scandal to come to light since the financial crisis. But Hensarling’s Financial Choice Act, which passed the House Financial Services Committee, would have weakened federal regulators’ ability to publicize the scandal and punish […]

Read one non-partisan analysis of Trump’s budget

The non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has released this analysis of Trump's budget. Listed below are the Committee's five key findings. The first three seek simply to state what the Trump Administration says is coming, including the Administration's predictions of enormous economic and political success. The last two are the Committee's attempts to deal with […]

FTC and Florida halt “massive debt relief scam”

The FTC reports: At the request of the Federal Trade Commission and the State of Florida, a federal court has temporarily halted a massive phony debt relief operation that bilked tens of millions of dollars from financially strapped consumers, including the elderly and disabled. According to the FTC and Florida, Jeremy Lee Marcus, Craig Davis […]

Time.com: Buried in Trump’s Budget: A New Attempt to Kill a Powerful Consumer Watchdog

Here. The whole article is worth reading, but here's an excerpt: Buried deep in President Donald Trump’s 2018 budget request to Congress—specifically, on page 158 out of 159 pages in the supplemental "Major Savings and Reforms" document—is a section headed “Restructure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.” It appears to be yet another Republican shot across […]