James C. Cooper of George Mason and Joanna Shepherd of Emory have written State Consumer Protection Acts: An Economic and Empirical Analysis. Here's the abstract: Consumer protection acts (CPAs) developed with the goal to protect American consumers from fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices. Initially, Congress, through the FTC Act, sought to define and deter […]
The Wall Street Journal contemplates whether the CFPB is subject to the slew of recent executive orders: A memo issued Jan. 20—Inauguration Day—ordered “executive departments and agencies” to temporarily suspend filing new regulations and delay the implementation of pending rules to give President Donald Trump’s appointees the chance to study them. …. Another executive order […]
Among the flood of Executive Orders over the past 8 days, and the uproar of the refugee ban, one important EO has not gotten much attention. Yesterday, Mr. Trump signed an order requiring agencies to repeal 2 regulations for every 1 they issue. The EO is flawed in many ways, and will be good for […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday took action "against a ring of law firms and attorneys who collaborated to charge illegal fees to consumers seeking debt relief. In a complaint filed in federal court, the CFPB alleges that Howard Law, P.C., the Williamson Law Firm, LLC, and Williamson & Howard, LLP, as well as attorneys […]
Here (behind paywall, I think). Excerpt: The White House later confirmed to Reuters that the executive order did not touch independent regulatory agencies. * * * That exclusion means that the Fed, the CFPB and other independent financial regulators, as well as the Dodd-Frank rules, are safe from the executive order for now. * * * […]
by Jeff Sovern Here. Trump criticized Dodd-Frank on the campaign trail, but as far as I know still hasn't said very much about which aspects of the statute he would change. Consequently, it remains unclear what his views of the CFPB are. While he complained about the difficulties small business have in getting loans from […]
So speculates Joseph Rubin in the American Banker here (free content). Here is the paragraph with the speculation: The Washington rumor mill has already focused on potential CFPB successors preferred by the Trump administration, such as Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, and George Mason University professor Todd Zywicki. Both are critics of the CFPB, and would likely […]
Here. Excerpt: "OneWest Bank did not 'robo-sign' documents," Mnuchin wrote in response to questions from individual senators, "and as the only bank to successfully complete the Independent Foreclosure Review required by federal banking regulators to investigate allegations of 'robo-signing,' I am proud of our institution's extremely low error rate." But a Dispatch analysis of nearly […]
by Paul Alan Levy i-Geniuses is a Houston company that repairs Apple products; it especially touts its ability to repair computers suffering from liquid damage on a fast turnaround schedule. A number of former customers have expressed concerns about the success of the repairs, about longer-than-advertised repair times, and especially about their believe that the […]
Here, in The Hill. Beavers is director of diversity and inclusion at The Greenlining Institute. Excerpt: Some critics—not previously known as leaders on diversity or civil rights—claim that the CFPB has become “a breeding ground” for discrimination that devalues employees of color and women. As an advocate for diversity—and specifically as an advocate for communities of color—I have […]