The House Appropriations Bill Is Much Worse for Consumers Than Originally Reported

by Jeff Sovern We posted yesterday about the House Appropriations Bill. I haven't studied the bill, but on a quick look, it contains a number of objectionable provisions from the Financial Choice Act (already passed by the House), including repeal of the CFPB's power to regulate arbitration and payday lenders and to block conduct on […]

More on the House Appropriations Bill That Would Make the CFPB More Accountable to Lobbyists

by Jeff Sovern From The Hill. Excerpt: A spending bill released Wednesday by the House Appropriations Committee includes major restraints for financial regulatory agencies. * * * Including the provisions in the spending bill, which is must-pass legislation, increases the odds they could become law. The measure places the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Consumer Financial […]

Report Finds Some Arbitration Providers Not Complying with California Arbitration Reporting Law

Here. From the Executive Summary: 32 firms appear to be offering consumer arbitration services in California. Of those, only 11 firms follow the substantive requirements of §1281.96(a) , and of those, only three firms can be said to evidence robust and full compliance with the statutory regime, including §1281.96(b)’s formal requirements as to format, timing […]

Can the California Anti-Arbitration Bill Survive FAA Preemption?

by Jeff Sovern Reuters reports that the bill has passed an Assembly committee, and is expected to pass the Assembly in August (the state Senate has already passed it).  Here's the part I don't understand: if California enacts the law, how can it avoid being preempted under the Federal Arbitration Act, as SCOTUS has interpreted […]

Arbitration rule at the Department of Education is under attack

In case you missed it earlier this month, the Trump Administration has indicated it will turn its back on another Obama-era rule, this time at the Department of Education (ED). In November 2016, ED announced a new rule to protect federal student loan borrowers who are victims of fraud and other misconduct by predatory schools, […]

CFPB acts against credit repair companies for charging illegal fees and misleading consumers

Still at work, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today filed two complaints and proposed final judgments in federal court against four California-based credit repair companies and three individuals for misleading consumers and charging illegal fees. The CFPB alleges that the companies charged illegal advance fees for credit repair services, and also misrepresented their ability to […]

CEI: CEI Objects to Facebook Class Action Settlement that Pays Lawyers Nearly $4 Million While Consumers Get 22 Words of Nothing

by Jeff Sovern Here.  The 22 words consists of the following statement, to appear on Facebook's help page: “We use tools to identify and store links shared in messages, including a count of the number of times links are shared.” As a general matter, I am skeptical of settlements that provide only a disclosure on […]