House Financial Services Chair Jeb Hensarling gave a speech today to the American Bankers Association Frank Act. During the speech, he said the following about the CFPB: [T]hey’re certainly not helped when Obama’s Financial Control Law [his name for the Dodd-Frank Act that created the CFPB, among other things] has killed off a benefit many, […]
We've discussed previously the troubling practice of some state and local courts using low-level offenses to generate fees, sometimes for the courts themselves and sometimes for for-profit entities that run court-related services. (See, for instance, here and here.) Now the Justice Department is warning states that these practices are unconstitutional and must stop, the New […]
The Department of Education announced on Friday a proposal to establish borrower-friendly processes for seeking and obtaining loan relief triggered by unscrupulous conduct by higher education institutions. The Department also proposed options to protect students from the use of mandatory arbitration provisions in enrollment agreements. The proposals were made in connection with an ongoing negotiated […]
Ralph Nader has an article on tort law entitled "Suing for Justice – Your lawsuits are good for America" in April's edition of Harper's Magazine. His conclusion: We are at a moment in our legal history at which the tort system, built over the course of a century in courts of law by tens of […]
Last week, the Vermont Attorney General announced that Advantage Payment Systems will pay $22,000 to settle claims that the company violated state consumer laws by processing electronic payments to payday lenders charging 100-300% interest despite the fact that Vermont law forbids interest rates of greater than 24%. Apparently, the company has already stopped processing payments in Vermont […]
by Jeff Sovern I recently listened to the audio version of a book authored, by two Nobel Prize winners, George A. Akerlof & Robert J. Shiller, titled Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception. Their basic thesis is that while free markets have the salutary effect of encouraging sellers to provide things that consumers want, free […]
Maybe not, according to this NY Times article. Excerpt: [S]ome argue that the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has become perhaps the most business-friendly court in recent history. A 2013 study by Lee Epstein of Washington University in St. Louis, William M. Landes of the University of Chicago Law School and […]
Joining a growing consensus of appellate courts that have addressed this issue in recent years, the Alaska Supreme Court held last week that foreclosure counts as "debt collection" and therefore firms in the business of foreclosing on homeowners are "debt collectors" subject to the restrictions of the FDCPA. As the court explained, "foreclosing on property, […]
The Hill reports: Government debt collectors could only robocall a person three times per month and would have to stop calling when asked to do so, according to a draft proposal at the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC released more details of the draft proposal circulated among the commissioners last month. The new details were […]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler has circulated for consideration by the full Commission a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking "to ensure consumers have the tools they need to make informed choices about how and whether their data is used and shared by their broadband providers." The proposal would apply the privacy requirements of the Communications […]