Loyola Consumer Law Review Call for Writers & Speakers at March Symposium on Big Tech and the Consumer

We received the following call for writers and speakers: The Loyola Consumer Law Review Seeking Writers, Speakers for its 2025 Symposium on “Big Tech” and the Consumer. The Loyola Consumer Law Review is hosting its annual symposium on March 21, 2025 at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law located in downtown Chicago. We are […]

Texas AG again rejects “earnings” argument about CFPB’s funding

As we previously reported, Texas’s conservative Attorney General takes the position that the CFPB is properly and currently funded. In a new filing captioned Plaintiff’s Response to Defendants’ Objections to Magistrate Judge’s Memorandum and Recommendation, Texas’s AG’s office states (footnotes and citation omitted): * * * Defendants attack the CFPB’s funding statute based on a flawed […]

First Circuit Affirms Antitrust Block on American-JetBlue Joint Venture

On her last day as Secretary of Transportation during the last Trump Administration, Elaine Chao signed off on a joint venture between American Airlines and JetBlue, which allowed extensive cooperation and coordination between the two airlines, effectively allowing the two to operate as a single airline with respect to most routes out of Boston and […]

Third Circuit Allows Benzene Class Action to Proceed Under Benefit-of-the-Bargain Theory

After Bayer voluntarily recalled certain anti-fungal consumer products that contained benzene due to a production error , consumers who had purchased the affected products filed a class action. They alleged three forms of harm: (1) that they were deprived of the benefit of their bargain because they contracted for safe products that did not contain […]

Whither consumer protection in a second Trump administration?

The future, they say, is the hardest thing to predict. With that caveat, what can we expect from a second Trump administration for consumer prediction? Some quick thoughts: President-elect Trump will surely ask CFPB Director Rohit Chopra to resign so that he can replace Chopra with someone he prefers. Despite the fact that Vice President-elect […]

California’s Refund-or-Replace Remedy Doesn’t Apply to Used Cars Still Under Warranty

California’s Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act provides significant protections to consumers in that case–particularly for those who purchase automobiles. One provision gives certain car buyers a “refund-or-replace remedy,” requiring the manufacture to replace a defective car, or provide restitution, after a “reasonable number of attempts” for repair. Today, the California Supreme Court issued a decision as […]

FTC sends $2.5 million to consumers deceived by Credit Karma’s “pre-approved” credit offers

The Federal Trade Commission took action against Credit Karma in 2022, alleging that the company told consumers they were “pre-approved” and had “90% odds” of approval to entice them to apply for credit card offers that, in many instances, they ultimately did not qualify for. Credit Karma later agreed to to stop making these types […]

CFPB and CMS address illegal billing of lowest-income Medicare recipients

Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a joint statement concerning unlawful medical bills charged to people with Medicare living at or below the poverty line — about one in eight Medicare recipients nationwide. Federal law generally prohibits healthcare providers who accept Medicare from billing them for […]

Ninth Circuit holds FAA does not apply to mass arbitration provisions

Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in Heckman v. Live Nation Entertainment, where it affirmed a district order denying a motion to compel mass  arbitration of a consumer antitrust class action about online ticket sales practices by Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Finding the arbitration agreement “borderline unintelligible,” the panel majority held that both the […]