Consumer Protection Law Commons^™

Brief Of Consumers Union Of United States, Inc., As Amicus Curiae In Support Of Petitioners, Riegel & Riegel V. Medtronic, Inc., No. 06-179 (U.S. Aug. 27, 2007), Lisa Heinzerling

U.S. Supreme Court Briefs

No abstract provided.

Banking Law Reform And Users-Consumers In Developing Economies: Creating An Accessible And Equitable Consumer Base From The 'Excluded', Joseph J. Norton

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Drawing on over two decades of relevant experience, the author sets forth the primary proposition that the equitable and accessible provision of banking services has never been a core component of modern banking sector legal reform in developing countries. Over the course of the article, the author evaluates the past fifteen years of banking law reform for developing countries and considers recent World Bank efforts to address financial access and equity issues. The article also includes a discussion of the rise of microfinancing and private banking industry initiatives in South Africa. The author concludes with reflections on the importance of …

Predatory Structured Finance, Christopher L. Peterson

ExpressO

Predatory lending is a real, pervasive, and destructive problem as demonstrated by record settlements, jury awards, media exposes, and a large body of empirical scholarship. Currently the national debate over predatory mortgage lending is shifting to the controversial question of who should bear liability for predatory lending practices. In today’s subprime mortgage market, originators and brokers quickly assign home loans through a complex and opaque series of transactions involving as many as a dozen different strategically organized companies. Loans are typically transferred into large pools, and then income from those loans is “structured” to appeal to different types of investors. …

Better Than Cash? Global Proliferation Of Debit And Prepaid Cards And Consumer Protection Policy, Arnold S. Rosenberg

ExpressO

A global deluge of debit cards and prepaid cards – payment cards that do not require consumers to qualify for credit – is rapidly making electronic payment systems accessible to much of the world’s population that previously paid in cash for goods and services. The global proliferation of payment cards is fraught with both risk and promise for consumers.

The billions of people of low to moderate incomes who are being hurled from a cash economy into the era of electronic payments in emerging economies by the proliferation of debit and prepaid cards are particularly vulnerable to abuses by banks …

Information Security Breaches And The Threat To Consumers, Fred H. Cate

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Finding The Contract In Contracts For Law, Forum, And Arbitration, William John Woodward

ExpressO

Contract provisions specifying the law or forum (either judicial or arbitration) have begun appearing in litigated cases, as businesses have pressed many courts for their enforcement against consumers. In at least some of the cases, enforcement of a choice of law provision results in the displacement of the consumer’s home state protection by the lesser consumer protection of the State of the form drafter’s choosing. This phenomenon raises serious problems of federalism and local control of consumer protection. But while considerable scholarly attention has been lavished on so-called “mandatory arbitration” in this context, much less has attempted to improve our …

Global Credit Card Use And Debt: Policy Issues And Regulatory Responses, Ronald J. Mann

ExpressO

The rise of card-based payments has transformed the landscape of payments in the last half century, from one dominated by government-supported paper-based payments to one dominated by wholly private systems. The rise of those payments presents a number of policy problems, the most serious of which is the empirically demonstrable likelihood that use of the cards contributes to an undue level of consumer credit and that borrowing on the cards contributes to a rise in the level of consumer bankruptcy. Although the existing pattern shows great variation from country to country, regulators should take no solace in those variations. Building …

Kentucky Consumer Law Conference, Office Of Continuing Legal Education At The University Of Kentucky College Of Law

Continuing Legal Education Materials

Materials from the Kentucky Consumer Law Conference held by UK/CLE in September 2004

False Advertising, Animals, And Ethical Consumption, Carter Dillard

Animal Law Review

In light of the fact that today’s consumers often want their products to be created in the most environmentally-, globally-, and animal-friendly ways possible, unethical sellers sometimes succumb to the incentive to persuade consumers that goods were created more ethically than they actually were. This article investigates the ways that consumers can protect themselves from false advertising through the use of federal and state agencies, independant review, federal and state courts, and private attorneys general actions.

Show Me The Money?: Washington Adopts The Cost Prohibitive Defense To Arbitration Clauses In Consumer Contracts, Merryn B. Debenedetti

Seattle University Law Review

The scope of this Note focuses on whether the courts have adequately corrected the substantive failures of mandatory arbitration agreements when they permit consumers to prove prohibitive costs. Part II of this Note explores the origin and history behind the adoption of the FAA and the legislative desire to place parties of equal bargaining power in a position to arbitrate. Part III examines the acceptance of this defense in other jurisdictions. Part IV considers the Mendez case and analyzes Washington's newly adopted approach to invalidate mandatory arbitration clauses in consumer contracts. Part V illustrates the appropriateness of this defense and …

The Obligation Of Legal Aid Lawyers To Champion Practice By Nonlawyers, Deborah J. Cantrell

Publications

No abstract provided.

Mandatory Arbitration Of Consumer Disputes: A Proposal To Ease The Financial Burden On Low-Income Consumers , Julia A. Scarpino

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Product Liability: A Commentary On The Liability Of Suppliers Of Component Parts And Raw Materials, David A. Fischer

Faculty Publications

The liability of suppliers of raw materials and component parts for harm caused by the product into which the materials have been incorporated poses difficult questions. When the raw material or component part is clearly defective, there is no question that the supplier is liable. Thus, where an ingredient in processed food is contaminated or where a truck tire has a flaw that causes a blowout, the supplier of the ingredient or the tire is liable. The difficult questions arise where the components are not inherently defective, but the finished product is defective because it lacks a safety feature or …

Privacy In The Commercial World: Online Consumer Privacy Concerns: Hearing Before The H. Subcomm. On Commerce, Trade, And Consumer Protection Of The H. Comm. On Energy, 107th Cong., Mar. 1, 2001 (Statement Of Chai R. Feldblum, Prof. Of Law, Geo. U. L. Center), Chai R. Feldblum

Testimony Before Congress

No abstract provided.

West V. Nationwide Credit, Inc. - Third Party Communication Clarified In The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Brian Keith Faulkner

Campbell Law Review

This Note begins with an overview of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). A discussion of its purpose, scope, and to whom it applies is included. Further discussion includes the protection the FDCPA offers to consumers, specifically provisions of the Act that deal with third party contacts and communications. Finally, the discussion analyzes the West holding and its impact on the debt-collection industry in North Carolina.

Browsers Beware: Avoiding Legal Entanglements On The Internet, Michael Zugelder, Theresa Flaherty, James Johnson

Finance Faculty Publications

When Chicago resident David Loundy ordered a compact disk on the Internet from a British Web site, he received an e-mail confirming his order. Loundy expected to pay the advertised price of £8.99, or about $14. When he was subsequently charged £12.99, Loundy was incensed. He argued that he had accepted the set price of £8.99 and insisted that he pay no more for the disk. But when Loundy filed suit in England under the Consumer Protection Act of 1987, he was told that the Act did not apply to him because, under English common law, the place of the …

Using Warnings To Extend The Boundaries Of Consumer Sovereignty, W. Kip Viscusi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

We make decisions every day for which we may not have full information. Not all such decisions lead to negative consequences, however. For example, scientists still know very little about why aspirin has its beneficial effects. However, the lack of our knowledge does not necessarily imply that our decisions are in error or that our freedom to make these decisions should be constrained. Almost invariably, we must make decisions with uncertain implications when we fail to have complete information, whether it be with respect to today's weather forecast or the chemical composition of the foods we eat, but this does …

Protecting The Digital Consumer: The Limits Of Cyberspace Utopianism, John Rothchild

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The De Minimus Exemption Of Stored Value Cards From Regulation E: An Invitation To Fraud?, Sean M. O'Connor

Articles

How valuable is $100? To a student? To a single unemployed parent? To a well-compensated professional? The Federal Reserve Board apparently believes that the potential loss of $100 is not a tremendous burden on anyone. In a recently proposed rule, the Board exempts stored value cards[that contain less than $100 from the same regulations that protect consumers from most types of fraud associated with ATM, debit, and credit cards. Regulation E (Reg E) currently regulates the electronic funds transfers (EFTs) that are at the heart of ATM/debit/credit card transactions by requiring printed receipts, error resolution procedures, periodic statements, initial disclosure …

Consumer Sovereignty: A Unified Theory Of Antitrust And Consumer Protection Law, Neil W. Averitt, Robert H. Lande

All Faculty Scholarship

This article is about the relationship between antitrust and consumer protection law. Its purpose is to define each area of law, to delineate the boundary between them, to show how they interact with each other, and to show how they ultimately support one another as the two component parts of an overarching unity: effective consumer choice (also called consumer sovereignty).

Consumer choice only is effective when two fundamental conditions are present. There must be a range of consumer options made possible through competition, and consumers must be able to choose effectively among these options. The antitrust laws are intended to …

Consumer Protection For Latinos: Overcoming Language Fraud And English-Only In The Marketplace , Steven W. Bender

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Section 2-102 Of The West Virginia Consumer Credit And Protection Act And Assignee Liability: The Triangle Of Consumers, Dealers, And Lenders Has Come Full Circle, Dana F. Eddy

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Role Should The Federal Government Play In Consumer Protection?, David S. Cohen

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The purpose of these remarks is to comment on and to reinforce many of the points made by Professor Neilson in his "Comment on the Recent Federal Proposals for the Rationalization of Trade Practices Regulation in Canada".' More broadly, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the motives and agenda of the current policies and constitutional reform proposals which address the role which the federal government should play in consumer protection generally.

A Product Safety Agenda For The 1990s, Teresa M. Schwartz

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Consumer Protection - The Unfair Trade Practices Act And The Insurance Code: Does Per Se Necessarily Preempt? - Pearce V. American Defender Life Insurance Co., Cindy C. Heenan

Campbell Law Review

This Note will address two main issues. The first issue is whether a violation of the Insurance Code regulatory section entitled "Unfair Trade Practices" should be a per se unfair trade practice under the UTPA. The second is whether the Insurance Code preempts the UTPA in defining unfair insurance practices.

Automatic Consumer Protection Recovery Act For Lack Of Informed Consent: Quimby V. Fine, Dr. Carroll Rusk, Jr.

Seattle University Law Review

This Note will demonstrate the need to refine the entrepreneurial aspects test as it applies to medical professionals and suggest a rationale for identifying those lack-of-informed-consent actions to which the Consumer Protection Act rightfully applies. Specifically, this Note seeks to: 1) demonstrate that satisfaction of the statutory elements of a lack-of-informed-consent claim necessarily satisfies the five prongs of the Hangman private dispute test; 2) show that the additional requirement that the lack of informed consent "relate to the entrepreneurial aspects of the medical practice" has not been definitively interpreted, and that it may be unintelligible in context; 3) identify the …

Consumer Complaints And The Ontario Business Practices Act: An Empirical Study, Neil Vidmar, Joseph Samuels

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Informational Regulation Of Consumer Health Risks: An Empirical Evaluation Of Hazard Warnings, W. Kip Viscusi, Wesley A. Magat, Joel Huber

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

On the basis of data from a survey of almost 400 consumers, this article assesses whether consumer behavior is responsive to information about product hazards that is provided in response to regulation. We find that the extent to which consumers take precautions is consistent with the level of risk indicated, the amount of risk information, the specific risk and precaution indicated, and the economic benefits of safety precautions. We also use the patterns of precautionary behavior to analyze the implicit value of the morbidity effects and to assess the consistency of consumer choices. Our findings support the use of product-hazard …

Developing Rational Standards For An Advertising Subsitution Policy, Charles Shafer

All Faculty Scholarship

American annual consumer expenditures of nearly two trillion dollars involve approximately sixty-four percent of the country's Gross National Product. A substantial portion of those consumer purchases result in some sort of dissatisfaction. The term 'consumer dissatisfaction’ represents a large continuum of feelings ranging from mild disappointment to all consuming rage. Consumer dissatisfaction is a serious societal problem for a variety of reasons. It indicates a misallocation of scarce resources. It can be a significant factor in producing the perception that the economic and political institutions are unfair, ineffective, or unresponsive. That perception can have wide ranging political ramifications. Finally, it …

Insurance Anti-Rebate Statutes And Dade County Consumer Advocates V. Department Of Insurance: Can A 19th Century Idea Protect Modern Consumers?, John S. Conniff

Seattle University Law Review

In 1984, a Florida court of appeals held that the Florida statutes prohibiting insurance agents from rebating part of their commissions to customers violated the due process clause of the Florida Constitution. The court concluded that no rational relationship exists between the anti-rebate statutes and the legitimate state purpose of protecting the public. The Florida decision is noteworthy because every state prohibits insurance agents and brokers from rebating to their customers a part of the commission earned from the sale of an insurance policy. In addition, every state prohibits unfair discrimination in pricing insurance policies and prohibits agreements between agents …