NACA announces 2-year consumer law fellowship program for upcoming law school grads

Here’s the announcement, which can also be found at Two Year Consumer Law Fellowship – NACA (consumeradvocates.org) NACA Consumer Law 2-Year Fellowship Program Jumpstart Your Career in Consumer Law: Be a NACA Inaugural Fellow and Make a Real Impact from Day One! This unique two-year fellowship offers students about to graduate law school the opportunity […]

Auto financing practices under scrutiny in CFPB’s latest supervisory report

In its recently released Supervisory report, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau highlights unfair (and abusive) acts and practices in auto financing. In this sector, the CFPB says its Supervision pays particular attention to auto repossessions, where it found numerous unfair acts and practices. Among them, the bureau found that a servicer or servicers erroneously repossessed […]

FTC settles with AI “Lawyer” DoNotPay

A company called “DoNotPay” operated an artificial intelligence service that it called  “the world’s first robot lawyer,” which it claimed “would allow consumers to “sue for assault without a lawyer” and “generate perfectly valid legal documents in no time.” Not surprisingly, the product did not live up to its claims. In late September, the FTC […]

ProPublica: “Desperate Times Led Wisconsin Tribe to High-Interest Lending, Dubious Partnerships and Legal Jeopardy”

ProPublia reports that, “[f]acing financial ruin, the Lac du Flambeau tribe began offering short-term loans online with annual rates often over 600%. But as the tribe rose in an industry derided for predatory practices, it put its reputation at risk and drew costly lawsuits.” The article is here.

Monestier article on Amazon comingling manufacturers’ products as deception

Tanya J. Monestier of Buffalo has written Amazon’s Dirty Little Secret, 69 Villanova Law Review 521 (2024). Here’s the abstract: You need new earbuds because one of yours just went missing. You log onto Amazon and scroll through the endless array of options. You finally select a pair “Sold by” Amazon and click “Buy Now.” […]

Home Depot to pay almost $2 million for false advertising, unfair competition

The Hill reports that Home Depot has agreed to pay nearly $2 million to settle a civil complaint from multiple California district attorneys alleging the company took part in false advertising and unfair competition. The story is here.

CFPB’s Seth Frotman remarks on consumer protection law as poverty law

Here, at the Poverty Law Center. Here’s an excerpt (footnote omitted): * * * I am increasingly worried about where we are headed today. After decades of more and more and more lending, the American people now have a significant debt burden. Yet there is no shortage of venture capital, private equity, and other pools […]

Green article on forced arbitration of discrimination claims

Michael Z. Green of Texas A&M has written Expanding the Ban on Forced Arbitration to Race Claims, 72 Kansas Law Review  455 (2024). Here’s the abstract: When Congress passed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (“EFASASHA”) in March 2022, it signaled a major retreat from the Supreme Court’s broad enforcement […]