by Steve Gardner The DC Circuit just issued its opinion in POM’s appeal of the FTC’s excellent order against POM for some of its marketing practices.  The opinion is 45 pages long, so let me provide the Court’s own summary of the opinion: The FTC Act proscribes—and the First Amendment does not protect—deceptive and misleading […]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday proposed changes to its mortgage rules "to facilitate responsible lending by small creditors, particularly in rural and underserved areas," according to the CFPB press release. If finalized, the rule will increase the number of financial institutions able to offer certain types of mortgages in rural and underserved areas. The […]

We've previously discussed the pending Supreme Court case King v. Burwell, in which the Supreme Court will consider whether the subsidies Obamacare provides to low-income purchasers of health insurance will be drastically cut back. Earlier this week, Brian discussed the government's brief in the case. Now the government's position is garnering support from some quarters […]

From Politico: The White House is preparing to send a sweeping online privacy proposal to Congress that would restrict how companies like Google and Facebook handle consumer data while greatly expanding the power of the Federal Trade Commission to police abuses — ideas that are likely to incite strong opposition in Congress. The forthcoming measure […]

News outlets have covered the prospect of legislation to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and undo reforms of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. See, for example, here, here, and here. The new Congress, however, is also considering a variety of other bills that would impact consumer protection. The National Consumer […]

by Jeff Sovern Two weeks ago, as Scott posted, the Supreme Court decided Jesinoski v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., holding that consumers may rescind under the Truth in Lending Act by so notifying the lender, and that the statute does not require the consumer to file a lawsuit to rescind. So you might think that […]

Last week, the FTC filed a complaint in a Texas federal court against Commercial Recovery Systems for threatening consumers that unless they paid their debts, they would be sued or have their wages garnished. The problem? These representations weren't true. As the FTC's press release details: According to the complaint, since at least 2010, CRS’s […]

We've discussed before the threats to privacy posed by secret government data collection programs of various kinds (see, for instance, here and here). Challenges to such programs are hard to bring because of the difficulty of establishing standing — i.e., the challenger must show (to a very high likelihood or certainty) that his or her […]

King v. Burwell is the case currently before the Supreme Court that asks whether the Affordable Care Act (ACA) authorizes health-care insurance subsidies for all otherwise qualified people nationwide or only for people who live in states that run their own health care "exchanges."  Exchanges are ACA-defined marketplaces in which people buy health insurance. Under […]

President Obama has proposed increasing taxes on high-income people as part of the package of tax code changes rolled out in his State of the Union address. Which efforts to obtain more revenue from wealthy and/or high-income people are practical and politically feasible? Those issues are taken up by law professor David Kamin in How to […]