The Fourth Circuit this week ruled in favor of Virginia residents in a RICO action challenging illegally high interest rates. The court explained: “The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Chippewa Indians purportedly created businesses under tribal law to make small-dollar, high-interest-rate loans to consumers via the internet. The Borrowers allege that the Tribe did so […]
Last month, a district court in the Sixth Circuit issued opinions in two related cases that refused to approve two class action settlements, taking class counsel to task for proposing $5,000 incentive awards to the class representatives, because the class members only received $248 each. Moeller v. The Week Publications, 1:22-cv-10666 (E.D. Mich. Dec. 15, 2022); Strano […]
At the Regulatory Review, Trevor Kirby discusses the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposal to create a public registry of agency and court orders against these nonbank financial companies. The post is here.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a request for information seeking public feedback on how the consumer credit market is functioning as part of a biennial review of the industry. The CFPB is seeking more and current information on various aspects of the consumer experience with credit cards. Congress enacted the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility […]
In 2019, DOJ’s Antitrust Division opened an investigation into practices and policies of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) — the trade and lobbying group representing most of the nation’s real estate agents, brokers, and other professionals, and defendant in several earlier antitrust cases. Among the practices DOJ sought to investigate were NAR’s “clear cooperation […]
The Justice Department and eight states sued Google today, alleging that the company has a monopoly over the online advertising market that violates the antitrust laws. The lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, aims to have Google’s dominance in the online ad marketplace broken up by having a court compel the company to […]
Gothamist reports: Restaurants and food delivery services will be barred from providing plastic knives, forks and condiment packets unless customers specifically request them, if a bill passed by the New York City Council Thursday goes into effect. The bill aims to curb single-use plastic waste that can’t be recycled. Approximately 1.1 million pounds of single-use […]
Late last week we filed an amicus brief in an Ohio court case in which the City of Beachwood is financing litigation, purportedly seeking to recover damages for the police chief based on an anonymous email and a handful of anonymous posts to the police department’s Facebook page that denigrated the police chief’s leadership. We […]
Tobacco companies have long fought regulatory action to protect consumer health and safety, and while there has been a shift from smokeable products to “e-cigarettes,” the legal battles continue. In 2016, the FDA issued a rule deeming e-cigarettes “new tobacco products,” and requiring manufacturers to submit premarket tobacco product applications (“PMTAs”) before they could sell […]
The Federal Trade Commission has been busy the past few days: FTC Finalizes Order Requiring Credit Karma to Pay $3 Million and Halt Deceptive ‘Pre-Approved’ Claims (Jan. 23, 2023) FTC Order Requires HomeAdvisor to Pay Up To $7.2 Million and Stop Deceptively Marketing its Leads for Home Improvement Projects (Jan. 23, 2023) FTC Order Requires […]