Policy battles over consumer protection often hinge on what’s better for consumers. That’s because consumer advocates often call for reforms that will aid consumers while the industry, which presumably doesn’t want to oppose proposals based simply on the position that they will cut into industry profits, instead attacks the claim that the reforms will actually […]
A. Oloyede, I. Ajibade, C. Obunadike, A. Phillips, O. Shittu, E. Taiwo, all of Austin Peay State University, and S. Kizor-Akaraiwe of the University of Washington have written A Review of Cybersecurity as an Effective Tool for Fighting Identity Theft across United States, 12 International Journal on Cybernetics and Informatics, No.5, (October 2023). Here is […]
In 2019, a group of former for-profit college students brought a class action against the Department of Education, based on the agency’s failure to rule on their applications for borrower defense relief to their loans–or anyone else’s–for more than a year. After years of litigation, the parties reached a settlement, which was approved in November […]
Nearly a year after oral argument, the Third Circuit this morning released its opinion in CFPB v. National Collegiate Master Student Loan Trust. The case is a long-running enforcement action brought by the CFPB against investment trusts that were created for the purposes of acquiring and servicing student loans, seeking to enforce civil investigative demands. […]
Richard Frankel of Drexel has written Fighting Mass Arbitration: An Empirical Study of the Corporate Response to Mass Arbitration and Its Implications for the Federal Arbitration Act. Here’s the abstract: Over the last forty years, corporations have increasingly inserted mandatory arbitration provisions into their consumer and employment contracts. Most prominently, and with the Supreme Court’s blessing, […]
The Biden Administration announced on Friday steps to eliminate hidden fees for college students, such as student loan origination fees, college banking fees, and automatic charges for textbooks. The fact sheet, with more detail, is here.
I’ve previously posted about consumer lawsuits across the country challenging various aspects of the Multiple Listing Service under unfair competition and antitrust laws. Today, the National Association of Realtors announced it had agreed to a global settlement of these cases. In addition to a payment of $418 million in damages, Realtors have agreed to get […]
The Michigan Senate yesterday passed bills to cap interest rates on quick-cash loans at 36% annually. Currently, Michigan allows short-term, high-interest cash advance loans that come due on the borrower’s next payday, with an annual interest rate of up to 391%. Supporters say that the bills, if signed into law, would protect people from getting […]
The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice back changes to copyright rules that would give consumers’ more legal room to either repair products themselves or hire independent businesses to fix them. In a press release, the FTC announced that the agencies issued a joint comment in response to the U.S. Copyright Office’s rulemaking […]