CFPB’s Chopra unhappy with credit scores

American Banker’s Penny Crosman has the story here (behind a paywall but available on Lexis), based on remarks at the Fintech Nexus conference. CFPB Director Rohit Chopra also spoke about how he wants to make it easier for consumers to switch banks so they can more readily take advantage of better prices or service and […]

FTC stops student-loan debt-relief schemes that bilked students out of $12 million

The Federal Trade Commission has stopped a pair of student loan debt relief schemes that it says bilked students out of approximately $12 million by using deceptive claims about repayment programs and loan forgiveness that did not exist. The agency also says the companies falsely claimed to be or be affiliated with the Department of […]

9th Circuit: Supreme Court’s AMG decision does not allow undoing old FTCA equitable monetary judgments

In 2021, in the case of AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC, the Supreme Court held that section 13(b) of the FTCA does not, contrary to a decades-long practice, allow the FTC to obtain equitable monetary judgments via court proceedings without first going through administrative proceedings as required to obtain such relief under section 19. […]

What to do about privacy policies? Chris Bradley has an answer

Christopher G. Bradley of Kentucky has written Privacy Policy Indeterminacy. Here’s the abstract: Despite being subjected to decades of sharp criticism, privacy policies published by companies remain a linchpin of privacy regulation. Representations in these policies provide the main measure against which consumer privacy can be judged. Policies are rarely read by consumers and are […]

DOT proposes new rules for delayed airline passengers

The Department of Transportation today announced it will be issuing an NPRM to require airlines provide compensation and reimbursement of expenses when passengers are affected by “controllable” cancellation or significant delays of their flights. DOT notes that practices among carriers currently varies, and airlines use different definitions of what constitutes “controllable” flight disruptions. DOT also […]

First Amendment protects reporters against liability for persuading a source to violate an NDA

In the course of ruling that the New York Times and its reporters could not be sued for persuading Mary Trump to disclose tax returns that had been disclosed in previously litigation, and which her lawyers had been keeping subject to a nondisclosure clause that formed part of the settlement agreement in that litigation, a […]

CFPB proposes rule on residential clean energy financing

The past two decades have seen the growth of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing programs– which allow property owners to finance the costs of energy-efficiency-related improvements, secured by the property itself and paid as an addition to an owner’s property tax bill. In the residential market, there has been a concern that these loans […]

FTC obtains injunctions against telemarketing debt relief scam

In November 2022, the FTC brought a lawsuit against the operators of a telemarketing debt relief scheme based in Tennessee. Operating under a variety of trade names, the network had tricked consumers to part with tens of millions of dollars based on false promises to eliminate or substantially reduce credit card debt. This week, the […]

Essential Oils unsupported health claims are beyond “puffery,” 2nd Circuit holds

“Essential oils” have become very popular over the past few years, in part due to confusion that, in this context, “essential” does not mean “indispensable or necessary,” but rather refers to the means by which they are derived from plants. An essential oil company called Young Living had marketed its products as being “therapeutic-grade,” and […]