Our special guest is Andrew Nigrinis, PhD, who formerly served as Enforcement Economist for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We first discuss what is meant by “dark patterns” and the types of digital practices...more
Last week, I moderated a live and virtual program at the American Bar Association Business Law Section 2023 Fall Meeting in Chicago. The program was entitled: “U.S. Supreme Court to Revisit Chevron Deference: What the SCOTUS...more
9/11/2023
/ American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Chevron Deference ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
National Bank Act ,
OCC ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation
The CFPB announced this week that it has entered into a proposed settlement of a lawsuit it filed in 2019 in Utah federal district court against a group of defendants who constitute the largest credit repair organizations in...more
9/1/2023
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit Repair Services ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FTC Act ,
Section 5 ,
Settlement ,
Statutory Violations ,
Telemarketing ,
Telemarketing Sales Rule
Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices, does not include a private right of action. Our special guest, Professor Myriam E. Gilles of Cardozo Law School, has written a law review...more
Townstone Mortgage (Townstone) has filed its brief in the CFPB’s appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from the district court’s decision in the CFPB’s enforcement action against Townstone. In the...more
8/23/2023
/ American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Chevron Deference ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
ECOA ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Popular ,
Regulation B
The Biden Administration has launched an initiative directed at combatting so-called “junk fees,” with the CFPB and FTC leading the Administration’s efforts. In Part II of this two-part episode, we first look at CFPB...more
The Biden Administration has launched an initiative directed at combatting so-called “junk fees,” with the CFPB and FTC leading the Administration’s efforts. In Part I of this two-part episode, we first discuss the various...more
The White House has announced that President Biden intends to nominate Andrew N. Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak to fill the two open Republican Commissioner seats on the Federal Trade Commission....more
Less than a week after announcing that it had filed a civil case against Amazon alleging that the company used “dark patterns” to enroll people in its Prime program, the FTC announced that it has entered into a settlement...more
Last week, the FTC filed a civil case against Amazon alleging that the company used “dark patterns” to enroll people in its Prime program. The case continues a pattern initiated by FTC Chair Lina Khan of challenging...more
The consumer financial services industry has become the target of increasing regulatory scrutiny under antitrust laws as well as class action antitrust litigation that challenges industry practices on the grounds that they...more
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that parties seeking to challenge the constitutionality of the structure of the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission cannot be required to raise such...more
The CFPB and FTC have targeted the use of “dark patterns” on websites to influence consumer behavior. We first discuss what regulators consider to be dark patterns and why they are a focus of regulatory concern and look at...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission issued a request for information (RFI) yesterday seeking comment on “background screening issues affecting individuals who seek rental housing in the...more
With one Republican Commissioner dissenting, the FTC has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would ban non-compete agreements between employers and workers nationwide, both prospectively and retroactively. If...more
Last week, the Biden Administration released a “Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights” (Blueprint), which sets forth five principles intended to “create a shared baseline for fairness for renters in the housing market” and...more
Our discussion examines the FTC’s Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking relating to what it describes as “commercial surveillance” and the CFPB’s circular confirming that covered persons and service providers may violate the...more
Perhaps ushering in a new wave of similar challenges, Walmart is challenging the FTC’s constitutionality in its motion to dismiss the FTC’s lawsuit filed in June 2022. In the lawsuit, the FTC alleges that Walmart violated...more
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Alvaro Bedoya to serve as an FTC Commissioner -
Mr. Bedoya fills the seat on the Commission previously held by CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. He joins the two other Democratic FTC...more
Today, April 20, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold a hearing, “Strengthening the Federal Trade Commission’s Authority to Protect Consumers.” The four currently-serving FTC Commissioners...more
On April 21, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold a hearing on President Biden’s nomination of Lina Khan to serve as FTC Commissioner. (Ms. Khan’s nomination will be considered together...more
Despite wide-spread expectations that the full Senate will confirm Rohit Chopra as CFPB Director before the end of this month, we now understand that the Biden Administration is likely to seek a delay in Mr. Chopra’s...more
A New York federal district court has denied the motion filed by two merchant cash advance providers and their chief executive officer and president to dismiss the FTC’s lawsuit alleging they engaged in unfair and deceptive...more
The defendants in the lawsuit filed by the FTC in August 2020 in a New York federal district court against two merchant cash advance providers and their chief executive officer and president for alleged unfair and deceptive...more
Last week, in FTC v. AbbVie Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which expressly gives the FTC authority to obtain injunctive relief, does not...more