by Jeff Sovern Another self-serving post: West has just published the 2013 edition of Selected Consumer Statutes, which I edited along with John A. Spanogle, Ralph J. Rohner, Dee Pridgen, and Christopher L. Peterson. The book should be useful not just for consumer law courses, but also for consumer law practitioners who want a portable […]
The New York Times has published what it calls a debate on how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should (or should not) exercise its power. It's actually six essays by . . . New York AG Eric Schneiderman [Reforms in mortgage abuse can become regulations. Action on debt and credit can be expanded. Financial literacy can […]
As explained in this National Law Journal article by Zoe Tillman, In the latest constitutional challenge against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency was accused today of overstepping its authority by attempting to regulate the practice of law and collect personal financial data. A complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District […]
by Brian Wolfman Last week, in Mortensen v. Bresnan Communications, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit compelled arbitration in a consumer class action.The consumer's take-it-or-leave-it contract with the defendant Internet service provider contained a requirement to arbitrate disputes. (The clause also banned class arbitration. See footnote 4 of the court's opinion.) The […]
I'm presenting at a few CLE programs over the next few days and I thought readers of the blog might be interested. The first can be accessed via phone; the other two will be at the American Association of Justice's Annual Convention in San Francisco: A one-hour phone briefing on American Express v. Italian Colors: Practical Implications […]
Though the confirmation of CFPB Director Cordray mutes the issue of CFPB accountabilty, it does not moot it. Those who remain interested in the issue may wish to consult Susan Block-Lieb of Fordham's paper, Accountability and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, 7 Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law (2013). Here's the abstract: […]
Consumer advocates often want government-held information and use the federal Freedom of Information Act (or state open government laws) to get that information. Check out the FOIA machine, a new on-line tool sponsored by the Center for Investigative Reporting. What is it? Here's what the FOIA machine says: What is the FOIA Machine? FOIA Machine […]
by Jeff Sovern Here. According to the story, Republicans agreed to vote for Cordray because he promised to testify before (Portman's phrasing) brief (according to the CFPB spokesperson) the Appropriations Committee on the CFPB budget. Another piece of the agreement, according to Portman, is that the Bureau will implement cost-benefit analysis of CFPB regulations, though […]
In a victory for class action plaintiffs, the Sixth Circuit has affirmed the certifcation of the class in In Re: Whirlpool Corporation Front-Loading Washer Products Liability Litigation, and distinguished the Supreme Court's decision in this Term in Comcast v. Behrend. The Sixth Circuit joins the Ninth in rejecting the argument that Comcast requires a classwide […]
by Jeff Sovern The federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act obliges sellers of most warranted consumer products to label the warranty either "full" or "limited." 15 U.S.C. § 2303(a). But that distinction serves little purpose if manufacturers never provide full warranties. I wondered how common full warranties are, and so I asked a research assistant, Eric Levine, […]