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Consumer Law

CL&P Blog

The contributors to this blog are a diverse group of lawyers and law professors who practice, teach, or write about consumer law and policy. Although the blog is hosted by Public Citizen's Consumer Justice Project, the views expressed here are solely those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the institutions with which they are affiliated.

Post Frequency: 15.1/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 11:13:04

Consumer Protection Matters: Highway Traffic Deaths at Lowest Level in More Than 60 Years

Posted on April 01, 2011
A combination of safety factors -- safer vehicles (prompted by government rules), more seat belt use (prompted by government rules, increased enforcement, and public education), and less drunk driving (prompted by government rules, increased enforcement, and an all-out public awareness...

Texas considers exempting real estate brokers from its consumer protection statute.

Posted on March 31, 2011
For most consumers, their home is the most expensive purchase they will make. It is also is the transaction with the greatest potential for problems. A consumer who is mislead or deceived with respect to the purchase of a home...

Will the Fourth Circuit Live Up to Its Own Standards on Access to Judicial Records?

Posted on March 30, 2011
by Paul Alan Levy I have discussed in the past our efforts in the Fourth Circuit to force both Rosetta Stone and Google to open up the factual discussions in their briefs about whether Google?s keyword advertising practices run afoul...

More on Finding Out What Others Know About Us

Posted on March 30, 2011
Here's my letter in today's Times, following up on Saturday's post (I'm happy it mentions the blog): Re ?It?s Tracking Your Every Move, and You May Not Even Know? (front page, March 26): You report that cellphone companies seldom disclose...

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The Worst Thing About the CFPB

Posted on March 29, 2011
by Jeff Sovern Peter J. Wallison of the American Enterprise Institute has written a paper, Will (Should) Dodd-Frank Survive? Here's part of what he says about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: The worst thing about [the CFPB] is that it...

An Analysis of The Wall Street Journal's Campaign Against the CFPB

Posted on March 28, 2011
At Credit Slips, Adam Levitin has posted this interesting piece on what he calls a "smear campaign" by the Wall Street Journal against Elizabeth Warren motivated by a desire to undermine the legitimacy of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau....

RESPA GFE Forms Still Have Problems

Posted on March 27, 2011
New RESPA Good Faith Estimate requirements and forms took effect in January of 2010. At three pages, the new forms provide a lot of information, perhaps too much for some consumers. Now that there's been some experience with the forms,...

It?s Tracking Your Every Move and You May Not Even Know

Posted on March 26, 2011
by Jeff Sovern That's the headline of an article in today's Times about how cell phones enable cell phone companies to know the location of consumers where ever they go, something of which consumers may not be aware. One of...

The State of Online Consumer Privacy

Posted on March 24, 2011
Last week, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held hearings on the State of Online Consumer Privacy. Here's a quote from the testimony of Chris Calabrese, Legislative Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union: If this collection of data is...

Barney Frank on Elizabeth Warren's Prospects for Nomination and Confirmation to Lead the CFPB

Posted on March 22, 2011
Here.

Google Says That Chinese Government Is Blocking Access To Gmail

Posted on March 21, 2011
Go here. The Gmail blockage appears to be part of China's intensified Internet interference campaign aimed at tightening censorship in response to political uprisings in the Middle East.

Supreme Court Rules 5-4: Cell Phone Provider May Not Ban Class Actions By Consumers

Posted on March 21, 2011
by Deepak Gupta In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that a consumer class action against a cell phone company may proceed -- despite a contract that purports to require arbitration and ban class actions. This is a...

The War on (Elizabeth) Warren

Posted on March 21, 2011
by Paul Krugman.

Joe Nocera Criticizes the Republicans Who Attack Elizabeth Warren

Posted on March 20, 2011
by Jeff Sovern Here. An excerpt: And thus the real purpose of the hearing: to allow the Republicans who now run the House to box Ms. Warren about the ears. The big banks loathe Ms. Warren, who has made a...

Adam Levitin on the Mortgage Servicing Settlement: "Shakedown" or "Bailout"?

Posted on March 20, 2011
We've been surprisingly silent around here about the mortgage servicing settlement. Over at Credit Slips, Adam Levitin of Georgetown Law has this interesting post on the settlement. He calls it a "bail-around" and the "prime exhibit" in the case for....

Will the Supreme Court Take Up Due Process Limits on Consumer Fraud Class Actions?

Posted on March 20, 2011
by Deepak Gupta We'll probably learn the answer tomorrow morning, at 10:00 am, when the Court issues its order list from the March 18 conference. I think there's a good chance that the Court will decide to grant Philip Morris...

Baseline Scenario Asks Who's Afraid of Elizabeth Warren?

Posted on March 18, 2011
Here. Excerpt: The next big political battle in Washington ? after the budget debate is declared ?over? ? will likely feature the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in particular the fight to determine whether Elizabeth Warren can become as the agency?s...

Elizabeth Warren Defends the CFPB at House Financial Services Committee Hearing

Posted on March 16, 2011
Elections change things. The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing today on the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is under fire from House Republicans even before it has taken an official act. (Its doors do not open until...

Preemption After the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act

Posted on March 15, 2011
Today's issue of American Banker has an alarming article entitled "Preemption After Dodd-Frank May Not Be as Weak As You've Heard." According to the article, "a growing number of preemption experts" (all on the industry side) are arguing that the...

Campaign Contributions and the Vote to Cut the CFPB's Budget

Posted on March 15, 2011
by Jeff Sovern As we noted a couple of weeks ago, the House of Representatives voted to cut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's budget. I was curious about the relationship of campaign contributions to the vote, so I asked my...

American Express Merchants Win The Latest Round

Posted on March 15, 2011
by Steve Berk Power can take several forms. It can be as overt and raw as Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi bombing his own people, or it can be as subtle as controlling the agenda of a Board meeting so that...

Conference on The Future of Arbitration (March 17th and 18th at GWU)

Posted on March 13, 2011
On March 17th and 18th, Alan Morrison and Roger Trangsrud of George Washington University Law School are hosting a conference on "The Future of Arbitration." I'll be speaking (on class-action bans), along with co-bloggers Brian Wolfman and Paul Bland...

Consumer Assembly 2011 (March 17th and 18th in Washington)

Posted on March 13, 2011
Since 1967, the Consumer Federation of America's Consumer Assembly has served as the consumer movement's principal meeting where consumer issues are reviewed, policy reforms are discussed, and new initiatives are presented. Consumer Assembly 2011 will be held at the Embassy...

You Have to Admire the Cleverness of the Deception

Posted on March 13, 2011
by Jeff Sovern The letters arrive every January and February with "Important Tax Information Enclosed" written on the envelopes. W-2s and 1099s. The one I'm looking at bears the return address "Processing Headquarters." Only it's not a tax form. When...

My Op-Ed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Don't Defund Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Posted on March 12, 2011
Here.

Study Finds Securitized Loans Less Likely to Get Modifications

Posted on March 11, 2011
Yan Zhang of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Compliance Risk Analysis Division, has written Does Loan Renegotiation Differ by Securitization Status? An Empirical Study. Here's the abstract: This paper investigates whether mortgage loan servicers renegotiate a distressed...

Massachusetts Attorney General Files Amicus Brief in Support of Federal Health Care Reform Legislation

Posted on March 10, 2011
Massachusetts was the first state in the nation to enact comprehensive health care reform that included an individual mandate -- that is, a requirement that some citizens of Massachusetts either purchase health care insurance or pay a tax (or fine)...

Lessons from Dan Snyder?s Libel Suit

Posted on March 10, 2011
by Paul Alan Levy Sports bloggers and others, especially in Washington and New York, have been abuzz over the libel suit filed last month by Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder over an unflattering article published in the Washington City Paper....

Are Law Students the Victims of Their Schools Deceptive Advertising?

Posted on March 09, 2011
Law students are consumers of legal education, which students hope will enable them to get jobs. The economic bust has focused attention on law schools that, their critics' claim, exaggerate the employment rates and salaries of their recent graduates...

Ninth Circuit Decision Protects Keyword Advertising Against Trademark Claim

Posted on March 09, 2011
by Paul Alan Levy We have often discussed on this blog the misuse of trademark law to suppress online speech that protects and benefits consumers, including both consumer commentary and comparative advertising. A Ninth Circuit decision yesterday should make it...

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