We have covered extensively the large mortgage fraud settlements brokered by the federal government under which major mortgage servicers were, among other things, supposed to pay money directly to consumers harmed in the mortgage meltdown. Go, for instance, here, here, here, and here. Now, Danielle Douglas, reports that it's taking a long time for the […]
In February, the brokerage firm Charles Schwab won a ruling from a hearing panel of FINRA, the financial industry regulatory authority, invalidating FINRA's rule against class-action bans and allowing Schwab to use a class-action ban in its customer agreements. The panel concluded that "the amended language used in Schwab's customer agreements to prohibit participation in […]
That's the topic of "Compelled Disclosures," a new article by law professor Caroline Corbin. Here is the abtract: Courts have faced a wave of compelled disclosure cases recently. By government mandate, tobacco manufacturers must include graphic warnings on their cigarette packages, doctors must show and describe ultrasound images of fetuses to women seeking to abort […]
In In Re HP Inkjet Printers, the Ninth Circuit yesterday reversed the district court’s orders granting final approval to a class-action settlement between Hewlett-Packard Company and a nationwide class of consumers who purchased certain HP inkjet printers, and awarding attorneys’ fees. Here is the summary issued by the court: The panel held that the attorneys’ […]
by Deepak Gupta A divided panel of the Third Circuit today joined the D.C. Circuit in holding that President Obama's recess appointments to the NLRB are unconstitutional. The case is NLRB v. New Visa Nursing and Rehabilitation. From the majority opinion by Judge Smith, who is joined by Judge Van Antwerpen: The central question in […]
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California this week reinstated a $203 million judgment against Wells Fargo for slapping hefty overdraft fees on consumers by manipulating the order in which their charges posted to their accounts in order to maximize the number of transactions that would be subject to overdraft penalties. The […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has launched a Spanish-language website. (To read its English-language homepage go here.)
As the Blog of the Legal Times reported, the FTC sent letters to almost 100 companies letting them know about revisions to the regulations implementing the Childen's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a statute that regulates the collection of information from minors under 13 online. The new rules include an expansion of the types of […]
In the Huffington Post, with Joseph Sanderson.
As this LA Times story explains, In a lawsuit that echoes the worst abuses of the foreclosure crisis, [California's] top law enforcement official is suing the nation's largest bank, accusing it of using aggressive and illegal tactics to collect credit card debt from thousands of California consumers. Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris on Thursday accused […]