This weekend, the Times ran a pair of pieces that laid out other ways to handle student loans. In America Can Fix Its Student Loan Crisis. Just Ask Australia, Susan Dynarski wrote about how other countries deal with student loans. Here's an excerpt: [T]here is no student debt crisis in Sweden, because payments are spread out […]
by Jeff Sovern As I listen to more of the Chain of Title audiobook, I am struck by how the acts of the robo-signers resemble those of consumers faced with disclosures. Like the consumers, the robo-signers signed the documents without reading them, trusting that the documents presented for their signature were what they should be. […]
Dear Mr Oliver: Your show, Last Week Tonight, has had several entertaining segments on consumer law issues, including debt buyers, credit reports, and student loans. But you're missing out on a consumer law subject that can be quite entertaining (unfortunately), even without your special touch. I refer to consumer disclosures. Some of the aspects of […]
by Jeff Sovern Yesterday the House passed the financial services appropriations bill. Here is how the Appropriations Committee describes the bill's provisions pertaining to the CFPB: The bill includes a provision to increase oversight over the CFPB by bringing funding for the agency under the annual congressional appropriations process, instead of direct funding from the […]
Harvard Law S.J.D. candidate and John M. Olin Fellow Meirav Furth-Matzkin has written On the Surprising Use of Unenforceable Contract Terms: Evidence from the Residential Rental Market. Here is the abstract: This paper explores the prevalence of unenforceable terms in consumer contracts. Taking the residential rental market in the Greater Boston Area as a test […]
The Wall Street Journal reports that More than at any time in their history, banks are being asked to work hand-in-hand with the U.S. government, serving as deputized watchmen for suspicious activity. That has been happening to some extent since legislation passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but banks’ responsibilities have steadily increased. […]
The Hill reports: The entire federal government is exempt from consumer protection laws that limit unwanted robocalls, the Federal Communications Commission decided in a ruling issued Tuesday night. While the Telephone Consumer Protection Act bars businesses from making numerous autodialed or prerecorded calls to a person’s cellphone—and similar telemarketing calls to a person’s home phone—the […]
Here. He also said that the final arbitration and payday lending rules will come out in the next year or so.
by Julie Murray On Saturday the New York Times had this article about New Jersey’s student loan program, which has an outstanding loan portfolio of about $2 billion. Here’s an excerpt: The loans . . . carry higher interest rates than similar federal programs. Most significant, New Jersey’s loans come with a cudgel that even […]
by Jeff Sovern I'm listening to the audio version of David Dayan's book Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street's Great Foreclosure Fraud. A lot of it will be familiar to those who followed media reports of the foreclosure crisis and robo-signing, but having it all pulled together gives it considerable impact, and those who didn't […]