The Federal Trade Commission announced today: [The FTC] and other law enforcement authorities around the country announced the first coordinated federal-state enforcement initiative targeting deceptive and abusive debt collection practices. This nationwide crackdown encompasses 30 new law enforcement actions by federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities against collectors who use illegal tactics such as […]
Today, Public Citizen client Jen Palmer told the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Technology the story of her ordeal involving KlearGear.com's attempt to fine her family $3,500 and subsequent reporting of a phony debt to ruin the Palmers' credit based on a non-disparagement clause. You'll recall we succeeded in fixing the credit problems […]
San Jose Mercury News reports: The skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs — already a hot issue on the U.S. presidential campaign trail — may be headed to California's statewide ballot next fall. Advocates of a proposed measure that would require state programs to pay no more for prescription drugs than prices negotiated by […]
It's complicated, but worth reading about in this piece by Michael Hiltzik.
It's been a good week for high-profile media attention to some of the most important issues facing consumers. First, as we've noted in several posts over the past few days, the NYT published a three-part deep dive on the abuses of forced arbitration. And this week's episode of CBS's "The Good Wife" featured a for-profit […]
Here. An excerpt: The arguments in Spokeo Inc. v. Robins et al. took the usual pattern of the four liberal justices arguing for a broad interpretation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and standing to bring claims under Article III and the conservative justices appearing to seek to limit companies’ exposure to court proceedings. In the […]
The New York Times published today the third and final part of its on forced arbitration. This installment, entitled "In Religious Arbitration, Scripture Is the Rule of Law," focuses on religious organizations' use of mandatory arbitration clauses to submit to "religious arbitration." For generations, religious tribunals have been used in the United States to settle […]
The New York Times headline "Metrojet Rules Out Technical Failure or Human Error for Crash in Sinai Peninsula" captures the gist of the article about the latest announcement from the Russian airline company whose plane crashed in Egypt over the weekend but doesn't flag the most important lesson for safety regulators. Notwithstanding the company's position, […]
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear this morning in Spokeo v. Robins, a case with important implications for a range of consumer protection statutes. The question before the Court, as framed by the company, is "Whether Congress may confer Article III standing upon a plaintiff who suffers no concrete harm, and who therefore could not […]
The second installment of the blockbuster New York Times series on forced arbitration is here. The headline is "In Arbitration, a 'Privatization of the Justice System.'" Whereas the first installment was focused on the macro effects — how the Supreme Court's rulings have resulted in a massive suppression of claims by consumers and employees — this […]