As a result of a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit, the operators of a telemarketing scam that called hundreds of thousands of consumers nationwide to pitch them expensive “extended automobile warranties” will face a lifetime ban from the extended automobile warranty industry and from all outbound telemarketing. The FTC’s press release is here.
On Friday, a unanimous panel of the Fifth Circuit rejected a challenge brought by the anti-regulation advocacy organization Consumers’ Research to Congress’s creation of the Universal Service Fund. The Fund imposes charges on telecom providers and then uses the money to fund access to telecommunications services for low-income consumers, schools, libraries, and rural health-care providers, […]
Here. Excerpt: [A doctor’s] claim was just one of roughly 60,000 that [medical director Dr.] Dopke denied in a single month last year, according to internal Cigna records reviewed by ProPublica and The Capitol Forum. The rejection of van Terheyden’s claim was typical for Cigna, one of the country’s largest insurers. The company has built […]
Allison posted a couple days ago on the FTC’s proposed rule on “click to cancel” subscriptions and memberships. Relatedly, Michele Singletary at the Washington Post has this useful piece on the topic. Here’s a little excerpt that describes the practices targeted by the FTC proposal and why those practices can be bad: With a negative-option membership […]
David A. Hoffman of Penn has written Defeating the Empire of Forms, forthcoming in the Virginia Law Review. Here’s the abstract: For generations, contract scholars have waged a faint-hearted campaign against form contracts. It’s widely believed that adhesive forms are unread and chock full of terms that courts will not, or should not, enforce. Most think […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took action this week against Portfolio Recovery Associates, one of the largest debt collectors in the nation, for violating a 2015 CFPB order and engaging in other violations of law. The CFPB’s proposed order, if entered by the court, would require Portfolio Recovery Associates to pay more than $12 million […]
The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a “click to cancel” provision requiring sellers to make it as easy for consumers to cancel their enrollment as it was to sign up. The proposal would make several specific changes, including implementing a simple cancellation mechanism, new requirements before making additional offers, and new requirements regarding reminders and […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week “launched an improved survey of credit card issuers that can help consumers and families compare interest rates and other features when shopping for a new credit card.” The agency explained that the [u]pgrades to the CFPB’s terms of credit card plans survey are designed to increase price competition […]
Public health campaigns over the past decades have been successful in reducing the prevalence of cigarette smoking in the U.S., particularly among adolescents. The tobacco industry has thus pivoted to e-cigarettes and vaping. Studies show young people, in particular, mistakenly believe such products are not unhealthy, and have been flocking to such products in droves. […]
The Second Circuit ruled today that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s funding structure is constitutional. In a unanimous decision,the court disagreed with a Fifth Circuit decision. The panel panel said at it “cannot find any support for the Fifth Circuit’s conclusion” in Supreme Court precedent, the Constitution’s text or the history of the appropriations clause. […]