Consumer Protection Law Commons^™

Judicial Ethics And The Eradication Of Racism, Dontay Proctor-Mills

Seattle University Law Review

In 2020, the Washington Supreme Court entrusted the legal community with working to eradicate racism from its legal system. Soon after, Washington’s Commission on Judicial Conduct (hereinafter the Commission) received a complaint about a bus ad for North Seattle College featuring King County Superior Court Judge David Keenan. Along with a photo of Judge Keenan’s face, the ad included the following language: “A Superior Court Judge, David Keenan got into law in part to advocate for marginalized communities. David’s changing the world. He started at North.” The Commission admonished Judge Keenan for violating the Code of Judicial Conduct, in part …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Why Corporate Boards Should Include Lgbtq+ People, Jeremy Mcclane, Darren Rosenblum

Seattle University Law Review

Corporate boardrooms sit at the heart of most of society’s most consequential decisions but fall far short of the diversity of our society. The current movement toward board diversification aims to remedy the underrepresentation of marginalized groups on corporate boards. More recently, some efforts have included LGBTQ+ people, even though the basis for their inclusion on corporate boards remains largely unstated. This Article examines both the normative and instrumental bases for LGBTQ+ inclusion in board diversity initiatives, articulating unspoken assumptions and linking LGBTQ+ people to the broader inclusion effort. In so doing, it begins to surface the unique issues LGBTQ+ …

Comments Of The Cordell Institute On Ai Accountability, Neil M. Richards, Woodrow Hartzog, Jordan Francis

Scholarship@WashULaw

These comments are a response to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's 2023 request for comment on AI accountability (AI Accountability RFC, NTIA–2023–0005).

Responding to NTIA’s recent inquiry into AI assurance and accountability, we offer two main arguments regarding the importance of substantive legal protections. First, a myopic focus on concepts of transparency, bias mitigation, and ethics (for which procedural compliance efforts such as audits, assessments, and certifications are proxies) is insufficient when it comes to the design and implementation of accountable AI systems. We call rules built around transparency and bias mitigation “AI half-measures,” because they provide the appearance …

A Concrete Proposal For Data Loyalty, Neil M. Richards, Woodrow Hartzog, Jordan Francis

Scholarship@WashULaw

Congress and state legislators are finally experimenting with new privacy frameworks, rights, and duties to move past the thoroughly critiqued “notice and choice” model for data privacy. While many new privacy proposals seek a more fortified version of the fair information practices, some legislators have placed a duty of data loyalty at the heart of their proposed privacy bills. This is important because a duty of data loyalty has the potential to anchor American privacy law in a way analogous to how the European Union approach is grounded in fundamental rights of privacy and data protection.

Unfortunately, there remains some …

After All This Time: An Analysis Of The Recent Trend To Extend Truth-In-Lending-Style Disclosures To Commercial-Financing Transactions, Kelly W. Cline

Campbell Law Review

The Truth in Lending Act of 1968 (TILA) was designed to protect consumers by implementing uniform disclosures for consumer financing transactions and by creating substantive consumer protections. While TILA has been amended over the past fifty years to reflect modern needs, it has always remained a consumer financing law. Over the past few years, however, states have challenged that notion by passing laws which require TILA-inspired disclosures for certain commercial-financing trans-actions. And at the federal level, a bill was introduced in the United States House of Representatives (House Bill) that would expand TILA to commercial-financing transactions falling below a certain …

The Private Attorney General In A Time Of Hyper-Polarized Politics, Myriam E. Gilles

Articles

With the enactment of the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”) in 1914 and the Wheeler–Lea Act in 1938, Congress sought to establish a brawny federal consumer protection regime to guard against the myriad unfair and deceptive practices that threatened harm to American consumers. But courts in this era interpreted these statutes to confer exclusive enforcement authority in the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), declining to infer a private right of action. For many decades, the resulting enforcement gap in consumer protection law was filled largely by state Unfair and Deceptive Practices Acts (“UDAPs”), which sanction litigation by both public and …

Blockchain, The Superhero That The Healthcare Industry Needs, Victor Wang

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

The note argues that blockchain technology holds significant potential for transforming the healthcare industry by enhancing data security and efficiency. However, its integration faces legal challenges due to conflicts with existing healthcare laws, particularly the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the HITECH Act. The note contends that blockchain's decentralized and immutable nature violates key HIPAA requirements, such as data disposal and accountability standards. It advocates for updating these laws to accommodate blockchain technology and ensure compliance, emphasizing the need for legal frameworks to evolve alongside technological advancements.

The Ftc's "Made In America" Enforcement Policy Is Too Stringent For Small Businesses To Comply With, Jamie Cutler

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

The note argues that the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) "Made in America" policy is overly stringent and disproportionately burdensome for small businesses. The policy requires products labeled as "Made in America" to contain "all or virtually all" parts and processing from the U.S., a standard that is often ambiguous, economically prohibitive, and misaligned with consumer perceptions. The note contends that this strict enforcement creates a "Hobson's choice" for small businesses, making it infeasible for them to comply without suffering financial harm or reputational damage. It advocates for lowering the threshold to allow more flexibility, which would support small businesses, promote …

At The Nexus Of Antitrust & Consumer Protection, Luke Herrine

Articles

This Essay uses Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act to examine the theoretical and practical relationship between antitrust and consumer protection law. It argues that, since roughly 1980, there has been a hegemonic "neoliberal"framework, one that has in recent years been challenged by an emerging "moral economy" framework. The neoliberal framework conceptualizes antitrust as preventing firms from conspiring to throttle output, with a focus primarily on consumers' interests in low prices, and consumer protection as making consumers informed, rational, and able to switch between competitors with relatively low cost. The moral economy framework conceptualizes both areas of law …

Assaulting The Citadel Of Section 230 Immunity: Products Liability, Social Media, And The Youth Mental Health Crisis, Matthew P. Bergman

Lewis & Clark Law Review

The exponential rise in social media use among minors since 2008 is responsible for a precipitous increase in youth mental health injuries and suicides. These harms result from the design of social media platforms which elevate maximizing user engagement over providing minors with a safe online experience, yet social media companies benefit from broad construction of § 230 immunity to evade liability. Courts’ expansive interpretation of § 230 is historically analogous to the application of the privity doctrine in the 19th century to shield manufacturers from liability for designing dangerously defective products. The demise of the privity doctrine and rise …

“Buy Now, Pay Later: No Fees. No Credit Check.”, Elaine Lee

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

Afterpay and Affirm, are financial technology (“fintech”) platforms that allow consumers to split their low-cost purchases into four installment payments–with seemingly no interest, fees, or hard credit inquiries. Similar to retailer fees on credit card transactions, these companies generate most of their profits as the intermediary between consumers and merchants. By flaunting celebrities like A$AP Rocky and Keke Palmer, the loan products are heavily advertised as the “cool” alternative to traditional credit cards and are particularly well-received among Millennials and Generation Z (“Gen Z”) consumers. Consequently, consumer advocates are duly concerned that lenders irresponsibly extend credit to a young generation, …

Pay No Attention To The Influencer Behind The Curtain, Eliza Logan

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

The note argues that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) must strengthen its regulation of social media influencers, particularly on platforms like Instagram, due to their significant influence on consumer behavior and the potential for deceptive marketing practices. It emphasizes that influencers should be held accountable similarly to advertising agencies, as their unique ability to build trust and authenticity with followers makes their endorsements more impactful than traditional advertising.

Accessibility In The Digital Age - Why The United States Needs A New Approach To The Americans With Disabilities Act, William J. Seguin

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note argues that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) must be updated to address digital accessibility, as its current framework, designed for the physical world, fails to accommodate the realities of the digital age. The ADA's success in promoting physical accessibility contrasts sharply with its inadequacy in ensuring equal access to digital spaces, highlighting the need for a new approach that includes digital platforms under its protections.

Title Theft, Stewart E. Sterk

Articles

Real property owners across the country have been targeted by scammers who prepare deeds purporting to convey title to property the scammers do not own. Sometimes, the true owners are entirely unaware of these bogus transfers. In other instances, the scammers use misrepresentation to induce unsophisticated owners to sign documents they do not understand. Property doctrine protects owners against forgery and fraud—the primary vehicles scammers use in their efforts to transfer title. Owners enjoy protection not only against the scammers themselves, but generally against unsuspecting purchasers to whom the scammers transfer purported title. Recovery of title, however, involves costs and …

Regulating Organic, Sarah J. Morath

American University Law Review

Even highly regulated labels, such as the organic label, have the potential for greenwashing. As recently as January 2023, a grain seller was indicted in federal court for a $43 million scheme that involved the sale of non-organic grain as USDA-certified organic. But today’s organic market is also full of sellers who follow the current federal organic regulations but fail to demonstrate the spirit of the organic movement—forgoing soil, animal welfare, and community for profit. I call this nuanced form of greenwashing quasi-greenwashing. It arises when a business complies with a rule or standard but takes advantage of consumer misunderstanding …

Harsh Creditor Remedies And The Role Of The Redeemer, Christopher D. Hampson

Fordham Law Review

The concept of the judgment-proof or collection-proof debtor is fundamental to our understanding of civil law and of what distinguishes it from criminal law. But when civil creditors can threaten unduly harsh or cruel debt collection measures (whether legally or not), they extend their reach into the pockets of those whom this Article calls “redeemers,” third parties with a familial or quasi-familial relationship to civil debtors who have reason to pay on their behalf. This Article examines four such measures—imprisonment, homelessness, destitution, and deportation—remedies that sound like they come from another time and place, but which are threatened by some …

Closing The Cracks And The Courts: A Comparative Analysis Of Debt Collection Regulation In The United Kingdom And The United States, Tasia S. Harris

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Consumers who borrow from a lender today cannot count on dealing with that same lender later if they default on their debt. In today's world of debt collection, the lender will outsource collection to a thirdparty debt collector, or those consumers' defaulted debt will be bought and sold numerous times for pennies on the dollar until eventually a debt buyer decides to pursue payment. Either way, under the current US debt collection laws and regulations, both third-party debt collectors and debt buyers can act outside the scope of debt collection regulation in the United States, and many will take that …

Student Loans And Financial Distress: A Qualitative Analysis Of The Most Common Student Loan Complaints, Matthew Adam Bruckner, Christopher J. Ryan Jr.

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Student loan servicers are the face of the U.S. student loan system, and they are not well-liked. Using the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (the CFPB) consumer complaint database, we study borrower perceptions of the student loan system. We qualitatively analyzed a sample of complaint narratives drawn from every student loan complaint ever filed with the CFPB. Our analysis of these complaint narratives reveals clear patterns of discontent in four primary areas: 1) a mismatch between ability to repay and repayment options, including problems with forbearance, deferments, the public service loan forgiveness program, income-driven repayment plans, and loan cancellation options; 2) …

The Price Of Fairness, Christopher Buccafusco, Daniel Hemel, Eric Talley

Faculty Scholarship

The COVID-19 pandemic led to acute supply shortages across the country as well as concerns over price increases amid surging demand. In the process, it reawakened a debate about whether and how to regulate “price gouging”—a controversy that continues as inflation has accelerated even as the pandemic abates. Animating this debate is a longstanding conflict between laissez-faire economics, which champions price fluctuations as a means to allocate scarce goods, and perceived norms of consumer fairness, which are thought to cut strongly against sharp price hikes amid shortages.

This Article provides a new, empirically grounded perspective on the price gouging debate …