Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: How to Use the Restatement of Consumer Contracts - A Guide for Judges
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: “Accidental Arbitration” -- A New Theory that Would Rein in Consumer Arbitration Clauses and the Scope of the FAA
OK at Work: Navigating Customer Terms and Usage
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: A Look at the FTC’s Click-to-Cancel Rule, with James Kohm, Associate Director of Enforcement Division of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: A Look at a New Approach to Consumer Contracts
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: Reasons Why the CFPB Should Deny the Petition for Rulemaking on Post-Dispute Consumer Arbitration Agreements
A recent update to EU consumer law will require many businesses selling online to offer a simpler, more accessible way for customers to cancel contracts within the standard 14-day cooling-off period....more
On January 14, 2025, the first part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) update to the Negative Option Rule went into effect. Negative options are contract terms that allow a seller to interpret a customer’s silence or...more
The federal government just fundamentally changed how businesses need to handle recurring subscriptions by unveiling its new “Click-to-Cancel” rule and making it mandatory to simplify cancellation processes. Designed to...more
Companies that care about avoiding Federal Trade Commission (FTC) action should take heed. Last month, the FTC announced an $8.5 million settlement with Care.com, resolving claims challenging its advertising claims and...more
It’s that time of year again. Regardless of what you call them—subscriptions, negative option programs, automatic renewals, or continuous service offers—states are continuing to enact and enforce new laws with increasingly...more
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission announced that its proposed rule replacing its Prenotification Negative Option Rule would result in new, expansive requirements for all forms of negative option offers, including...more
A recent Sixth Circuit decision caught my eye because it addressed an important issue on which I have not seen any other appellate decisions (and none were cited in the opinion). The plaintiff argued that the Class Action...more
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) released a statement on February 14 confirming a series of changes to potentially unfair contract terms that had been agreed with four of the largest providers of Buy Now, Pay Later...more
In several recent posts and a webinar, we’ve talked about how the FTC and state AGs are focusing on automatic renewals. A series of new laws and investigations show that this continues to be a hot topic for both lawmakers and...more
Subscription services face increased scrutiny from regulators, lawmakers and the plaintiffs’ bar. As we highlighted in a recent client alert, the FTC warned companies against using “dark patterns” in connection with paid...more
In Brice v. Haynes Investments LLC, No. 19-15707 (9th Cir. Sept. 16, 2021), the Ninth Circuit considered an appeal by shareholders in Native American tribe-linked online lenders of a district court order denying the...more
Companies contracting with consumers have to take care to ensure their agreement terms are enforceable. In one of the first post-Brexit decisions on issues in an online consumer contract, a UK court recently showed that...more
We’ve written about automatic renewals before, but the $10 million price tag in the FTC’s settlement with the operators of ABCmouse should grab your attention. The FTC alleged that over a three-year period, the company...more
Companies responding to the pandemic are faced with the challenges of not only complying with federal, state, and local emergency orders and guidelines for each location in which they operate, but also ensuring that any...more
As local and national regulations seek to “lower the curve” of infections of the COVID-19 illness, they have forestalled a host of consumer transactions, most notably those regarding travel, hospitality, and community...more
The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) established new privacy rights for California consumers but left many unanswered questions on how businesses should implement the new obligations imposed on them. ...more
SquareTrade, Inc. (“SquareTrade”) sells protection plans for consumer products. Adam Starke (“Starke”) purchased a SquareTrade plan from Amazon to cover a CD player ordered from Staples....more
When does the globally available website of a foreign company subject that company to jurisdiction in the United States for purposes of a trademark infringement action? Does it make a difference if the foreign company has...more
As the U.S. Supreme Court observed memorably in First Options of Chicago, Inc. v. Kaplan, arbitration disputes often raise “three types of disagreement” relevant to resolution of the dispute: (1) a disagreement as to the...more
Its a factual scenario that arises far more than it should. A customer provides a cell phone number to a business, consenting to receive phone calls in the process. Phone calls are placed to that customer at that number. But...more
Executive Summary and Takeaway. User agreements for websites and apps have become increasingly prevalent in recent years, and courts have had to adapt traditional rules of contract interpretation to the new digital frontier....more
Businesses that have not already done so should consult with counsel regarding "consent to be called" provisions in their consumer contracts in the wake of the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit...more
Takeaway: Non-parties who seek to rely on equitable estoppel to compel arbitration of claims based on an arbitration agreement they did not sign face an uphill battle in the Ninth Circuit. In In re Henson, No. 16-71818, 2017...more
In Reyes v. Lincoln Automotive Financial Services, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently held that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) does not permit a consumer to unilaterally revoke...more
Facebook, Inc. (Facebook) recently lost a decision before the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the enforceability of the forum selection clause in its standard terms of use. Accordingly, organizations should carefully review...more