Deciding a case under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Third Circuit held this week that debt collectors bear the burden of proving that their contacts with third parties fall under an exception to a ban on such contact when pursuing repayment from consumers. The court summarized the case this way: Under the Fair […]
Consumer reporter Michelle Singletary has written this article warning consumers about potential car-rental snafus, with a focus on how to insure the car. Some of her key tips: ●Double-check ahead of time what your personal auto policy covers for a rental, including whether you’re covered for “loss of use,” which is a charge you could […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Department of Justice yesterday resolved an action with American Honda Finance Corporation concerning discretionary auto loan pricing and compensation practices. The CFPB explains: "Honda’s past practices resulted in thousands of African-American, Hispanic, and Asian and Pacific Islander borrowers paying higher interest rates than white borrowers for their auto loans, […]
by Paul Alan Levy In its decision issued last week about the application of trademark law to the operation of online search engines, Multi Time Machine v. Amazon the Ninth Circuit has taken a dangerous step backwards. The case might, however, prove to be the vehicle by which that court wipes out the bad precedent […]
Last month, the Fourth Circuit held in In re GNC Corp. that "to state a false advertising claim on a theory that representations have been proven to be false, plaintiffs must allege that all reasonable experts in the field agree that the representations are false.” — F.3d –, 2015 WL 3798174, at *7 (4th Cir. […]
Jeb Bush: "work longer hours." Hillary Clinton: "raise incomes." NYT coverage of those statements and their implications here and here, respectively.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest has remade Coke's famed “Hilltop” ad to drive home the relationship between sugary soft drink consumption and obesity (and obesity's cousin, diabetes). CSPI recently reported that its video has been view more than 300,000 times in English. To view the video in English, go here or click on […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has published consumer guides for managing money particularly aimed at helping newcomers to the U.S. Here's what the CFPB says about the guides, along with links to the guides themselves: Beneficiary. Collateral. Debit. Fair market value. These terms might look familiar, but what do they really mean? Now imagine how […]
That's the name of this article by law professor Stephen Burbank and political scientist Sean Farhang. Its part of a larger study about the counterrevolution against private enforcement of legal rights. Here is the abstract: In this article we situate consideration of class actions in a framework, and fortify it with data, that we have […]
Today's Washington Post reports on a ProPublica expose concerning the use of the drug Coumadin, a popular (in the sense of widely used) anti-coagulant used by many elderly people to prevent blood clotting. (The Post headline jumped out at me in part because two of my own relatives use or have used the drug in […]