History shows that public education and other efforts to combat entrenched but potentially deadly behavior harmful to health — such as tobacco use — must be sustained, well-funded, and flexible. Efforts to deal with childhood obesity begun in just the past decade may be beginning to pay dividends, as explained in this article by Lydia […]
by Jeff Sovern As Deepak pointed out last week, a lot has been going on in debt collection, and one item is that the CFPB has issued a bulletin stating that people subject to its jurisdiction may not commit unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices in collecting debts. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act generally does […]
Ed's excellent post is here. Those who purport to be so concerned about the privacy of bank customers should seek to amend the Gramm-Leach-Bliley privacy provisions to bar banks from selling consumer information unless their customers affirmatively opt-in to the sale of that information. But that would mean supporting consumer protection, precisely what the CFPB […]
Read this Charlotte observer story on the suit. Here's an excerpt: A lawsuit in federal court in Colorado accuses Charlotte-based Bank of America of racketeering, in what amounts to more fallout for the bank stemming from a federal mortgage-modification program. The suit, filed Wednesday, claims violations of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, […]
Here. The article is about the problem of boilerplate more generally than the headline suggests and is definitely worth a read. Here's my favorite quote: “I’m not someone who wags his finger and says you should read [online contracts],” said Douglas G. Baird, a professor of law at the University of Chicago. “If you read […]
In an era in which privacy is under attack on many fronts, it's welcome news whenever members of Congress introduce bills to protect consumer privacy. One such effort is that of Rep. John Duncan of Tennessee, who this week proposed legislation to protect minors against misappropriation of their likenesses for advertising. (See here for further […]
Amy Schmitz of Colorado has written Ensuring Remedies to Cure Cramming, 14 Cardozo J. of Conflict Resolution 877 (2013). Here's the abstract: The unauthorized addition of third party charges to telecommunications bills ("cramming") is a growing problem that has caught the attention of federal regulators and state attorney generals. This Article therefore discusses the problems […]
Senators Warren and McCain have introduced legislation to prevent banks from engaging in certain financial speculation. Its explained in this article by Peter Eavis. Here's a brief excerpt: Senator Elizabeth Warren on Thursday introduced an aggressive piece of legislation that intends to take the financial industry back to an era when there was a strict […]
Following up on Allison's post about a tentative deal in the Senate on student-loan interest rates, this Bloomberg story spells it out. Here are the basics, including a description of what has already been passed in the House: The House-passed plan, H.R. 1911, would charge students 2.5 percentage points more than the yield of the […]
Following up on Brian's post early this morning about a failed Senate bill that would have rolled back the student-loan interest rate that doubled earlier this month: CNN is reporting that a "bipartisan groups of senators have reached a tentative deal to help students facing the doubled interest rate."