by Jeff Sovern In keeping with Justice Gorsuch's remark yesterday that "Democracy depends on our ability to learn from & work with those who hold very different convictions than our own," here is a partial report on the activities of arbitration supporters: The Chamber of Commerce is holding an event titled CFPB's Anti-Arbitration Rule: Analysis […]
by Jeff Sovern Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress will have 60 legislative days to overturn the rule. The rule can also be blocked by the FSOC, and for that to happen, an FSOC member must file a petition within ten days of publication of the rule. Given the opposition of Acting Comptroller of the […]
In the Daily Kos, Paul has written Settlement Shows Why Congressional Republicans Want to Let Banks Use Forced Arbitration. Excerpt: [R]oughly 1/3 of the customers impacted by US Bank’s illegal actions had signed an arbitration clause when they entered into a conditional sale contract with their car dealer. The arbitration clause included a provision that […]
Here. Excerpt from their statement: The mission of the CFPB, created in 2010 to shield consumers from shady industry practices, is extremely popular, with 74 percent of voters backing its work. The poll shows majority support from Democrats (85 percent), Republicans (66 percent), and Independents (77 percent). The Dodd Frank reforms writ large are supported […]
by Jeff Sovern The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has a long history of being captured by the banks it regulates, interrupted briefly during the Obama administration. But now that it is headed by Acting Comptroller and former bank lawyer Keith Noreika, it is once more protecting banks from predatory consumers. First Norieka […]
Anocha Aribarg and Eric M. Schwartz, both of Michigan's Business School, have written Consumer Responses to Native Advertising. Here's the abstract: Native advertising is a type of online advertising that matches the form and function of the platform on which it appears. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) monitors this form of advertising and has […]
by Jeff Sovern On a party line vote of 31-21, the House Appropriations Committee passed the Financial Services Appropriation bill. Section 930 of the bill repeals the CFPB's authority to regulate arbitration. Section 926 would subject the CFPB to the congressional appropriations process, thereby making it more accountable to lobbyists. Section 927 would gut the […]
Here. Seems like there's another one of these kinds of stories every year. Here's an excerpt: 22,000 people have now found themselves legally bound to 1000 hours of community service, including, but not limited to, cleaning toilets at festivals, scraping chewing gum off the streets and “manually relieving sewer blockages”. The (hopefully) joke clause was […]
The hearing was held by the House Financial Services Committee Subcommittee on Financial Services and Consumer Credit. The ACA has a report here. Nine bills were under discussion. Excerpt: “Just to give everyone an idea, H.R. 864, the Stop Debt Collection Abuse Act, was a bipartisan effort on behalf of myself, [U.S. Reps. Keith Ellison, […]
by Jeff Sovern Gene DeSantis served 12 years as Counsel to the Assembly Consumer Protection Committee and also taught Consumer Law for 15 years at Syracuse University and 5 years at Albany Law school. During his time as Counsel, he drafted the NYS law prohibiting the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in consumer contracts, which is preempted by […]