Here. Excerpt: [S]upport [to overturn the rule] in the Senate is uncertain. No Democrats are likely to back the effort, and Republicans, with their slim majority, can’t afford to lose more than two GOP votes. Several Republican senators have expressed reservations about voting to overturn the regulation, worried they may be portrayed as siding with […]
Jean R. Sternlight of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas has written Hurrah for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Consumer Arbitration As a Poster Child for Regulation, 48 St. Mary's Law Journal 343 (2016). Here is the abstract: Drawing on economic, psychological and philosophical considerations, this Essay considers whether consumers should be "free" to "agree" […]
by Jeff Sovern According to Politico, President Trump first used the phrase "drain the swamp" in a speech on October 17, 2016, in which he announced an ethics plan to, in fact, drain the swamp. Here's the Washington Post's quote of what he said draining the swamp meant: First: I am going to re-institute a […]
Banks and credit unions may give their customers the option of overdraft "protection," which allows the customer to overdraw when (for instance) using a debit card in exchange for paying a overdraft fee. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is concerned that the fees can burden consumers and wants to ensure that overdraft fees are adequately […]
The Washington Post reports: The heat on Wells Fargo over its auto lending business has intensified, with customers filing at least three lawsuits, politicians calling for hearings and a bank regulator issuing a subpoena for records. Wells Fargo, still trying to recover from a fake accounts scandal, said last week that roughly 570,000 customers were […]
Lots of editorials and op-eds on consumer issues lately. In The Hill today: Congress this summer is considering whether to pass legislation that would fundamentally damage the ability of the Federal Trade Commission to protect consumers from pyramid schemes. As one of the commissioners of the FTC, I have a much different view. Americans lose […]
Here. Excerpt: Big Lie No. 1: Bank lobbyists claim that people recover more in arbitration than in class actions: $32 per person in class actions versus $5,400 per person in arbitration, citing the CFPB’s study. * * * The very few people who take the time and expense to pursue an individual arbitration — only […]
The Chicago Sun-Times urges "Congress should side with consumers, not with what it says in the fine print, and abandon its efforts to repeal the rule." Fine print has never been the friend of consumers, and in recent years the perils have escalated as financial institutions have drawn up clauses that deny customers effective redress […]
Here. Excerpt: A Senate GOP aide said that supporters of the resolution do not have the votes needed to proceed on the floor, given the absence of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has returned to Arizona to receive medical treatment for brain cancer. A July 28 statement from McCain’s office said he does not plan […]
by Jeff Sovern Results from WalletHub. Some other findings: More than half think banks and credit bureaus need more regulation while 71% think consumers need more financial protection 92% know CFPB stands for Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and 49% would turn to the CFPB if they had a serious complaint about a bank, compared to 9% […]