In Hooks v. Forman, Holt, Eliades & Ravin, No. 12-3639-cv (May 29, 2013), the Second Circuit has held that a debt collector's collection notice violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by stating that the plaintiffs could only dispute the validity of a debt in writing. The court's ruling is consistent with earlier Ninth Circuit […]
by Jeff Sovern Here. One surprise is that the regulator in question is the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which is showing still more evidence that it has escaped the clutches of the financial industry, which had captured the OCC in the past. An excerpt: The OCC’s investigation reflects the agency’s increasing focus […]
We've written before about the potential effects on class actions of the Supreme Court's decision this Term in Comcast v. Behrend: see here, here, and here. Yesterday's Ninth Circuit opinion in Levya v. Medaline Industries is a welcome development in the growing body of post-Comcast jurisprudence in the lower courts. The opinion, written by the […]
The Class Action Fairness Act provides jurisdiction in federal district court (originally and by removal) for most minimally diverse class actions and for "mass actions." Under CAFA, a mass action is any civil action (except a civil action within the scope of [28 U.S.C.] section 1711(2)) in which monetary relief claims of 100 or more […]
Fernando López Vicente of the Bank of Spain has written The Effect of Foreclosure Regulation: Evidence for the US Mortgage Market at State Level. Here's the abstact: Do laws to protect borrowers curb foreclosures? This question is addressed by analysing the impact of foreclosure laws on default rates at state level in the US mortgage […]
…is the title of this illuminating Fresh Air interview, about the evolution of retirement savings in this country and the perils awaiting the unwary individual retirement investor.
As states begin implementing the Affordable Care Act, will they offer a range of options at prices preferable to what is available today? Chad Terhune has written this article about what California is doing. Here's an exceprt: After weeks of negotiations, California said it has selected 13 health plans for a new state-run insurance marketplace […]
Two Yale heavyweights, Ian Ayres & Alan Schwartz, have written The No Reading Problem in Consumer Contract Law, forthcoming in the Stanford Law Review. Here is the abstract: Instead of attempting to promote informed consumer assent through quixotic attempts to have consumers read ever-expanding disclosures, this Article argues that consumer protection law should focus on […]
Carter Dougherty of Bloomberg has a must-read story on the practical effects of the constitutional controversy over Rich Cordray's appointment. The D.C. Circuit's ruling in Noel Canning, he reports, "has hampered the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, slowing some enforcement, impeding recruitment of a second-in-command, and delaying joint ventures with the states." Among other things, the Bloomberg […]
Daniel Schwarcz of Minnesota has written Monitoring, Reporting, and Recalling Defective Financial Products, University of Chicago Legal Forum (2013). Here is the abstract: In recent years, innovations in consumer financial protection have drawn heavily from the law governing the safety of tangible products. This short essay, prepared for a symposium entitled "Frontiers of Consumer Protection," […]