Regulatory Rollback: CFPB’s Withdrawal of Informal Guidance Sparks New Litigation Dynamics – The Consumer Finance Podcast
The Road to Regulation: Vehicle Service Contracts Explained — Moving the Metal: The Auto Finance Podcast
Point-of-Sale Finance Series: Unpacking Leases and RTO Models — The Consumer Finance Podcast
The Current State of the Holder Rule: Friend or Foe? — Moving the Metal: The Auto Finance Podcast
Regulatory Rollback: Legal Challenges and Opportunities in Earned-Wage Access — Payments Pros – The Payments Law Podcast
Regulatory Rollback: Legal Challenges and Opportunities in Earned-Wage Access — The Consumer Finance Podcast
Balch’s Consumer Finance Compass: How Standing Can Make or Break Certification for Class Action Lawsuits in Debt Collection
From Banks to FinTech: The Evolution of Small Business Lending — The Consumer Finance Podcast
Point-of-Sale Finance Series: Banking on Lending Models — The Consumer Finance Podcast
Point-of-Sale Finance Series: The Great Debate of Loans vs. Credit Sales — The Consumer Finance Podcast
Explore the Impact of Point-of-Sale Finance in Our Upcoming Series — The Consumer Finance Podcast
Welcoming a New Payment Pro: Jason Cover Joins the Payments Pros Podcast — Payments Pros – The Payments Law Podcast
Shifting Gears: Adapting to Regulatory Changes in Auto Finance — Moving the Metal: The Auto Finance Podcast
Unlocking the Secrets of Reverse Mortgages — The Consumer Finance Podcast
The FinReg Frontier: AI and Machine Learning in Consumer Finance — The Consumer Finance Podcast
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: How to Use the Restatement of Consumer Contracts - A Guide for Judges
Mock Jury Exercises: Enhancing Litigation Strategy in Consumer Financial Services Cases — The Consumer Finance Podcast
Navigating 2025: Regulatory Shift to the States and the FTC in the Digital Asset Landscape — The Consumer Finance Podcast
Requiem for the Rules: The Rise and Fall of the Junk Fee and CARS Rules — Moving the Metal: The Auto Finance Podcast
2024 in Review: Major Debt Collection Trends and 2025 Outlook — The Consumer Finance Podcast
Bilateral arbitration is under increasing attack. While businesses evaluate whether and how to update their arbitration clauses in light of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's October decision in Heckman v. Live...more
The war against arbitration agreements continues apace. The latest volley comes from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Johnson v. Continental Finance Company, LLC, No. 23-2047 (4th Cir. Mar. 11, 2025). In...more
On January 27, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a significant opinion holding that the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) does not prohibit the enforcement of arbitration...more
For the past decade, many courts have found class action waivers in consumer contracts to be valid and enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act. However, recently, the Allegheny Court of Common Pleas in Pittsburgh...more
Earlier this year, the New Jersey Supreme Court held in Pace v. Hamilton Cove that class action waivers in consumer contracts that do not contain an arbitration clause (i.e., a stand-alone class action waiver) are not per se...more
Our special guest is Professor Richard Frankel of Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law and the author of a recent article on mass arbitration. In this episode, we first discuss what mass arbitration is, how it...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently reversed a district court’s ruling, which had denied a motion to compel arbitration of Opportunity Financial (OppFi) on the basis that the arbitration clause was...more
We previously reported and released a podcast episode on comments that we and Professor David Sherwyn of Cornell University submitted in opposition to the Petition for Rulemaking filed by a number of consumer advocacy groups...more
Ballard Spahr Senior Counsel Alan S. Kaplinsky and Mark J. Levin, and David Sherwyn, Professor of Law at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, today submitted lengthy comments to the Consumer Financial...more
A Rhode Island federal district court recently refused to enforce a stand-alone class action waiver in the consumer plaintiff’s automobile lease agreement on the ground that it violates state public policy. The court in...more
Earlier this month, in Fama v. Opportunity Financial LLC, a Magistrate Judge of the federal district court for the Western District of Washington held that the arbitration provision in OppFi’s installment loan agreement is...more
Regulators Hit Jackpot: Off-Channel Communications - Several years before announcing the first “off-channel” communications enforcement action, the SEC and FINRA cautioned broker-dealers and investment advisers about...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision in Coinbase Inc. v. Bielski requires that district court litigation in any matter remain in the starting gate while any appeal from a denial of a motion to compel arbitration in...more
Earlier last week, a group of consumer advocate organizations filed a Petition for Rulemaking with the CFPB that would prohibit the use of pre-dispute arbitration clauses in consumer contracts in favor of arbitration clauses...more
Professor Jeff Sovern recently blogged about the FTC’s June 2023 revisions to its Endorsement Guide. The Guide helps advertisers and endorsers make sure that their advertising using endorsements or testimonials is truthful...more
Two companion bills titled the “Consumer and Small Business Protection Act” have been introduced in the New York legislature would make sweeping changes to the provisions of the state’s general business law (Section 349)...more
Arbitration provisions are common features of commercial agreements. Arbitration is often touted as a cost-effective alternative to litigation that provides contract parties the freedom to decide everything from what law the...more
The Supreme Court will consider several cases affecting the consumer financial services industry in its upcoming term, which starts October 5. The cases involve substantive issues of liability to consumers, questions relating...more
Focus areas included FCRA, Fair Lending, ancillary fees and services (such as lender placed flood insurance), TCPA, privacy and data security and other topics. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Director Kathleen...more
A group of small businesses and their individual owners have filed a putative class action lawsuit in a New York federal district court against online lender Kabbage, Inc. that alleges Kabbage engaged in a “rent-a-charter”...more
This past Friday, by a vote of 225-186, the House passed H.R. 1423, the “Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act.” A Senate companion bill (S. 610) was introduced in February 2019 and referred to the Senate Judiciary...more
On November 1, President Trump formally did away with a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) arbitration rule that would have given consumers the opportunity to file class actions against banks and other companies in...more
The latest large consumer data breach, this time involving Equifax, has also shed a sharp light on an ongoing controversy about consumers’ access to justice. In taking steps to ameliorate its PR crisis, Equifax found itself...more
Yesterday the Senate struck down a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) rule which would have prohibited providers of financial products and services from including class action waivers in their arbitration...more
The Senate voted on Tuesday, October 24, to repeal the CFPB’s Arbitration Rule first proposed in May of 2016 and issued in its final form in July. The rule would have imposed limitations on the use of pre-dispute arbitration...more