Tag: consumer protection

  • National Consumer Protection Week and Disclosure 3.0

    Posted by

    Jean Braucher

    It’s National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW)!   Federal, state, local, and nonprofit consumer protection agencies and organizations are making extra efforts to promote consumer awareness. 

    First I have to get out of my system thoughts of Tom Lehrer’s song, National Brotherhood Week:

                    Step up and shake the hand/Of someone you can’t stand . . .

                    It’s only for a week so have no fear/Be grateful that it doesn’t last all year.

    But to get back on message, of particular interest to Credit Slips readers is this part of the mission of consumer protection described on the NCPW website:

        "Financial Fraud Scams: American consumers owe a whopping $11.31 trillion dollars in debt and are behind on paying about $1.01 trillion of that amount. Mortgages, student loans, and credit cards account for a large portion of that debt. Consumers are often haunted with huge monthly payments, and fraudsters take advantage of that with debt relief scams, tax scams, and other financial fraud scams. Scams target individuals who are in financial distress, but they fail to fulfill their promises, and typically leave consumers worse off than when they started."

    Let me say that Lauren Willis has done a great job on this site recently taking us, patiently and painstakingly, through the many problems with the idea that disclosure can be refined into a digital juggernaut to protect consumers. See here  and here and here.

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  • MyConsumerTips.info

    Posted by

    Amy Schmitz

    I have been working for a few years in developing and creating a consumer outreach website at MyConsumerTips.info.  The site is purely non-profit and has no sponsors or advertisers. It aims to simply provide consumers with “consumer tips” that change each day, independent summaries regarding debt-related and other consumer rights, quizzes and polls regarding such issues, and other consumer protection resources. It is user-friendly and interactive. This is part of my larger “Consumer Empowerment”service and experiential learning projects, and outreach endeavors.

    Unfortunately, it is tough to gain traction for such non-profit sites without paying for promotions through Google or others. Also, there so many sites that purport to provide consumer resources that individuals suffer information overload and are not sure what to trust.

    Hopefully, MyConsumerTips.info will deservedly gain trust, do some good and expand in ways that benefit consumers!  Check it out.

  • Protecting Public Rights

    Posted by

    Amy Schmitz

    Contracts professors, policymakers, consumer groups and others have become particularly interested in another post-AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion case.
     The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently agreed to an en banc rehearing
    of Kilgore v. Keybank, 673 F.3d 947 (9th Cir. 2012).  The issue in this case is whether Concepcion precludes courts from preserving judicial access for public injunctions under state consumer protection statutes by invoking the public policy exemption from the Federal Arbitration Act's ("FAA") mandate that courts enforce arbitration agreements according to their terms.  The en banc hearing is set for some time in December of this year.

    The case is important on many levels.  It raises fundamental questions about the reach of FAA preemption in the wake of Concepcion, in which the United States Supreme Court held that the FAA preempted courts from using California unconscionability law to strike a class relief waiver and order class arbitration.  Moreover, the case implicates states' power to protect individuals' access to meaningful injunctive relief in order to enforce and protect public rights under state statutes, such as consumer protection statutes.  

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  • Fine Print Foils

    Posted by

    Amy Schmitz

    I was delighted to see Melissa Jacoby’s call in September for more poetry on creditslips.org! Therefore, I wish to share the poem I wrote that served as basis for the lyrics to a consumer protest song that accompanies a non-profit consumer outreach film, Fine Print Foils, that I produced a couple of years ago. Why not have fun with consumer protection?

    Fine Print Foils
    by Amy J. Schmitz

    Fine print foils
    We do our best
    Confusing contracts
    We do detest

    Companies send us
    Sterling “steals”
    Promised savings
    Offered as “deals”

    “Freebies” are false
    And contracts change
    While rates rise high
    Beyond fair range

    Consumers caught
    In a mindless maze
    Seeking solace
    Stuck in a haze

    Of limited know-how
    And lack-luster laws
    Needing protection
    From companies’ jaws

    Yet we have a duty
    To watch what we sign
    And read terms closely
    Not assuming they’re fine

    Embrace education
    Empowerment grows
    Let’s work together
    To end contract woes

    You can listen to the song via the link: Fine Print Foils song

  • Financial Stability Board Calls for Effective Consumer Finance Protection

    Posted by

    Jean Braucher

    The Financial Stability Board, an international organization operating under the auspices of the G20 countries, this week issued its Report on Consumer Finance Protection. http://www.financialstabilityboard.org/publications/r_111026a.pdf FSB emphasizes the link between international financial stability and consumer protection, particularly in the mortgage markets. It calls for regulation to assure assessment of borrowers’ ability to pay and to police credit product features that increase risk.
    The report engages in some comparative analysis and identifies national regulatory architecture that has been particularly effective, such as that of Australia. The report is part of an initiative to stimulate more international discussion of effective means of consumer protection, particularly concerning credit. FSB increasingly sees consumer protection as part of its mission to assess and address vulnerabilities in the international financial system. The report is worthy and sensible. Of course, implementation, primarily by domestic regulation of financial institutions, is a huge challenge.

  • The Consumer Financial Protection Agency

    Posted by

    Adam Levitin

    I've written a short research brief (also here) on the Obama administration's proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency for the Pew Financial Reform Project.  The research brief is a non-partisan guide to the issues involved in creating a CFPA.  It begins by reviewing the current state of consumer protection in financial services and the criticisms of the current regulatory regime. It then considers how a CFPA would address the criticisms of the current regulatory system and concludes with a discussion of the potential concerns about a CFPA.

    Many of the issues discussed in the research brief will be familiar to Credit Slips readers, but one thing that I believe is unique to the brief is a detailed examination of the supposed conflicts between safety-and-soundness and consumer protection.  While this has been raised as a general specter or with an analogy to the conflict between affordable housing regulation and safety-and-soundness in the case of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (more on that specific case in another post), precious few examples of potential conflicts have been put forth.  The research brief considers the specific examples that have been raised and demonstrates through examination of the proposed statutory languag they are for non-issues either because of the careful way in which the CFPA delegates authority.