by Brian Wolfman This June 21 article by James Stewart explains that In a departure from long-established practice, the recently confirmed chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Jo White, said this week that defendants would no longer be allowed to settle some cases while “neither admitting nor denying” wrongdoing. “In the interest of […]
Consumers in this country pay more for health care than in other developed countries. And maternity care provides a dramatic example, as explained in this article by Elisabeth Rosenthal. Check out this chart from Rosenthal's article: Here's an excerpt: [T]hough maternity care costs far less in other developed countries than it does in the United […]
by Jeff Sovern Here (behind paywall). Excerpt: Court decisions tied to the 1968 law fell 18% year over year during a12-month period that ended May 31, to 1,037, data from the National ConsumerLaw Center shows. That number is down 38% from the peak two years earlier. The pace of new litigation is also slowing. […]
by Jeff Sovern From time to time, reports appear that Senator Portman is trying to broker a compromise that would permit confirmation of Richard Cordray as CFPB director. And some, including Ballard Spahr's Alan Kaplinsky, have predicted that a compromise will be eventually be reached. I don't have any inside information–it's not as if legislators […]
Congress could still act after Monday to reduce rates retroactively, however. The Wall Street Journal has more here. An excerpt: As of Thursday afternoon, Democratic backers of the one-year freeze of current rates said Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) had promised there would be a vote on July 10 on their bill. An aide […]
[Ed note: The following guest post is the third in a series of posts about payday lending or "deposit advance" loans issued by banks. Go here and here for the prior two posts.] Guest post by Jim Hawkins, University of Houston Law Center In reading Gary Kalman's guest post, I wondered why the Center for Responsible […]
by Jeff Sovern Former governor, HUD general counsel, and current head of the American Bankers Association Frank Keating has penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal (behind paywall) with the headline above. Keating complains that HUD has adopted the disparate impact test for discrimination; that the CFPB's qualified mortgage rule (QM rule) will restrict […]
Guest post from Gary Kalman, EVP, Center for Responsible Lending Earlier this week, Professor Jeff Sovern posted a piece here questioning whether banks should get out of the “deposit advance” lending business—i.e., payday lending. We appreciate his comments, but loan sharking is loan sharking. Banks are pushing triple-digit interest loans that are structured to create […]
Our readers may be interested in hearing about what the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is doing on the enforcement front. Today, the agency issued a press release concerning consent orders against U.S. Bank and one of its affiliates: Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)ordered U.S. Bank and one of its nonbank partner companies, Dealers’ […]
That's the name of this new study by Deanne Loonin and Jillian McLaughlin of the National Consumer Law Center. They explain that A student loan "debt relief" industry has sprung up in response to the demand for student loan borrower assistance and this report documents multiple problems as well as potential violations of consumer federal […]