Consumer Protection Law Commons^™

The Rise Of "Fringetech": Regulatory Risks In Earned-Wage Access, Nakita Q. Cuttino

Northwestern University Law Review

By many accounts, the financial technology, or FinTech, sector appears to have developed an innovative solution to assist low-income workers with income shortfalls between standard paydays by displacing fringe financial service providers, namely payday lenders. Earned wage access programs facilitate early transfers of earned-but-unpaid wages to low- income workers through mobile platforms, algorithmic technology, and GPS tracking. To many, earned wage access programs represent a win-win for employees and employers. These programs are believed to be cheaper and safer alternatives to payday loans. Preliminary research also suggests these programs improve labor-retention rates for employers and help reduce financial distress for …

Is The Cfpb Still On The Beat? The Cfpb's (Non)Response To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Craig Cowie

Faculty Law Review Articles

When COVID-19 triggered a historic economic crisis, millions of Americans lost income and fell behind on debts, and complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) hit record highs. This article argues that the agency, created after the 2008 crisis to protect consumers, largely failed to respond. Through early 2021, it filed no public enforcement actions tied to the pandemic, announced it would relax oversight of rules, and brought smaller cases with less consumer harm, redress, and penalties. The author recommends faster, visible enforcement, partnering with states, and clear guidance on unfair practices during the pandemic, signaling consumers remain protected.

Corruption In Capsules: How It Is Legal For Companies To Put Harmful Ingredients In Vitamins And Dietary Supplements, Emily Leggiero

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

The vitamin and supplement industry has increased exponentially in profits as well as potential products on the market since the turn of the century. However, these products are not regulated, nor do they undergo any premarket clinical research or testing. Public health is compromised by vitamins and supplements that are available for American consumption that is disproportionately unregulated to their chemically similar counterparts. This wicked problem is facilitated through the combination of historical legislative definitions that has since been distorted for corrupt administrative gain through the allotment of corporate expenditures. Company disbursements are made to the same policymakers that create …

Standing Up For Consumers: Whether Third Party Payors Can Establish Standing To Sue Against Drug Manufacturers Under Civil Rico, Brianna Vollman

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Did Monsanto Pay A Plaintiff To Force Preemption Appeal? Plus: Judges Debate Vices And Virtues Of Virtual Mdl Hearings, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, Amanda Bronstad

Popular Media

Welcome to Critical Mass, Law.com’s weekly briefing for class action and mass tort attorneys. Monsanto insists a “high-low settlement” with a Roundup plaintiff wasn’t designed to manufacture an appellate ruling. The chairwoman of the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, which has continued to hold hearings amid the pandemic, says there is “something missing” in virtual oral arguments. What does President Joe Biden’s recognition of the Armenian genocide mean for lawyers representing descendants of the victims?

The Power Of The "Internet Of Things" To Mislead And Manipulate Consumers: A Regulatory Challenge, Kate Tokeley

Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies

The “Internet of Things” revolution is on its way, and with it comes an unprecedented risk of unregulated misleading marketing and a dramatic increase in the power of personalized manipulative marketing. IoT is a term that refers to a growing network of internet-connected physical “smart” objects accumulating in our homes and cities. These include “smart” versions of traditional objects such as refrigerators, thermostats, watches, toys, light bulbs, cars, and Alexa-style digital assistants. The corporations who develop IoT are able to utilize a far greater depth of data than is possible from merely tracking our web browsing in regular online environments. …

The Rental Crisis Will Not Be Televised: The Case For Protecting Tenants Under Consumer Protection Regimes, Eric Sirota

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The Foreclosure Crisis of the 2000s has likely hurt renters more than homeowners. Incongruously, however, consumer enforcement agencies have been far more zealous in protecting mortgagors than tenants. This Article explores the under-protection of tenants as a class of consumers, particularly in a “commoditized” rental market, and examines how consumer enforcement agencies can more zealously incorporate tenant-protection into their mandates.

Much of the prior literature on the legal protections afforded tenants was published in the wake of the consumer rights revolution of the 1970s. This Article is the first to carefully reexamine, in the context of the modern rental market, …

Taking It With You: Platform Barriers To Entry And The Limits Of Data Portability, Gabriel Nicholas

Michigan Technology Law Review

Policymakers are faced with a vexing problem: how to increase competition in a tech sector dominated by a few giants. One answer proposed and adopted by regulators in the United States and abroad is to require large platforms to allow consumers to move their data from one platform to another, an approach known as data portability. Facebook, Google, Apple, and other major tech companies have enthusiastically supported data portability through their own technical and political initiatives. Today, data portability has taken hold as one of the go-to solutions to address the tech industry’s competition concerns.

This Article argues that despite …

The Mdl Revolution And Consumer Legal Funding, Ronen Avraham, Lynn A. Baker, Anthony J. Sebok

Articles

Third-party consumer legal funding, where financial companies advance money on a nonrecourse basis to assist individual plaintiffs with living expenses, is an increasingly popular and controversial part of American litigation. And consumers with mass tort claims pending in Multi-District Litigations (MDLs) constitute the fastest growing sector of those seeking assistance from this billion-dollar funding industry. Policy makers, mass tort plaintiffs' lawyers, and scholars have increasingly raised concerns about exorbitant interest rates and have called for regulations to protect vulnerable consumers from “predatory lending.” To date, however, the policy debate has largely relied on anecdotes and speculation because flinders have not …

Dignity, Freedom, And Digital Rights: Comparing American And European Approaches To Privacy, Virginia Kozemczak

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

The note examines the contrasting approaches of the United States and the European Union to digital privacy, emphasizing how the US prioritizes liberty while the EU focuses on dignity. It argues that US privacy law, particularly under the Fourth Amendment, struggles to adapt to technological advancements, as seen in cases like Carpenter v. United States. In contrast, the EU's framework, guided by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, offers more comprehensive protections by addressing the broader context of data collection and processing. The author suggests that the US could enhance its privacy protections by adopting elements …

Implikasi Atas Objek Perjanjian Yang Keliru Dalam Akta Pengakuan Utang Dan Kuasa Menjual Yang Dibuat Notaris Berdasarkan Putusan Mahkamah Agung Nomor 279 K/Pdt/2017, Hana Theresia Lamtarida

Indonesian Notary

Notaris memiliki kewenangan utama yakni untuk membuat suatu akta autentik. Akta yang dihasilkan Notaris mempunyai kekuatan pembuktian yang sempurna jika telah memenuhi suatu syarat autentisitas dan terpenuhinya syarat sahnya suatu perjanjian. Syarat objektif yang tidak terpenuhi oleh para pihak dalam syarat sahnya suatu perjanjian ini mengakibatkan kebatalan pada Akta Pengakuan Utang dan Kuasa Menjual serta kedudukan dari suatu Kuasa Menjual itu sendiri yang tidak tepat karena dijadikan sebagai suatu jaminan atas pelunasan utang piutang dalam kasus tersebut. Sebagai Notaris, seharusnya dapat menjalankan tugas dan jabatannya sesuai dengan sumpah jabatannya yang tertera dalam Undang-Undang Jabatan Notaris. Adapun rumusan masalah yang dibahas …

Perlindungan Hukum Bagi Pembeli Dalam Akta Jual Beli Yang Batal Demi Hukum Berdasarkan Putusan Hakim, Kory Ulama Sari Budiarti

Indonesian Notary

Pelaksanaan jual beli dalam realitanya seringkali ditemukan permasalahan, baik itu permasalahan langsung terjadi pada saat pelaksanaan jual beli maupun permasalahan yang baru muncul di masa mendatang. Permasalahan yang terjadi dalam pelaksanaan jual beli jika tidak menemukan penyelesaian dapat mengakibatkan batalnya akta jual beli. Salah satu permasalahan yang terjadi dalam pelaksanaan jual beli adalah ketidakwenangan seseorang menjual objek jual beli. Keberhasilan pelaksanaan jual beli dilakukan oleh penjual yang tidak memiliki kewenangan atas objek tentunya menyimpang dari ketentuan prosedur jual beli. Kurangnya pemahaman pembeli dan PPAT dalam melakukan jual beli menjadikan pembeli dan PPAT membiarkan perjanjian jual beli berlangsung tanpa memikirkan akibat …

Ketidakabsahan Pemindahan Hak Atas Saham Akibat Transaksi Menggunakan Cek Kosong (Studi Putusan Pengadilan Tinggi Dki Jakarta Register Perkara Nomor 51/Pdt/2019/Pt.Dki.), Lize Maydner

Indonesian Notary

This research discusses the implementation of the transfer of rights to shares in PT Permitra Parahyangan Prakasa, with a buying and selling mechanism that is paid using a cheque as the decision of the High Court of DKI Jakarta Register Case No. 51/PDT/2019/PT.DKI. The dispute occurred as a result of the use of cheque with an effective postponed date which was later proven in the trial to be a blank check, so that from the beginning at the time of the signing of the deed of sale can be ascertained there will never be an implementation of payment obligations on …

Perlindungan Hukum Bagi Pemenang Lelang Pada Pelaksanaan Lelang Berdasarkan Pasal 6 Undang-Undang Hak Tanggungan Dalam Putusan Pengadilan Negeri Bandung Nomor 517/Pdt.G/2017/Pn.Bdg., R. Yismoyo Amanta

Indonesian Notary

Tulisan ini membahas Putusan Pengadilan Negeri Bandung Nomor 517/Pdt.G/2017/PN.Bdg mengenai pemenang lelang yang belum terpenuhi haknya terhadap objek lelang dalam pelaksanaan lelang eksekusi hak tanggungan. Tidak terpenuhinya hak pemenang lelang tersebut didasarkan pada pemilik objek lelang belum menyerahkan objek lelang kepada pemenang lelang, mengingat pelaksanaan lelang eksekusi hak tanggungan tersebut telah memenuhi syarat pelaksanaan lelang. Permasalahan dalam penelitian ini adalah perlindungan hukum bagi pemenang lelang dalam pelaksanaan lelang eksekusi hak tanggungan serta penyelesaian hukum terhadap belum diserahkannya objek lelang kepada pemenang lelang. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah metode yuridis normatif. Sedangkan tipologi yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah penelitian deskriptif …

Akta Notaris Sebagai Bukti Kepemilikan Dan Keabsahan Jual Beli Saham Berkaitan Dengan Penyetoran Modal Oleh Pendiri Perseroan (Analisis Putusan Pengadilan Tinggi Dki Jakarta Tanggal 29 Agustus 2018 Nomor 374/Pdt/2018/Pt.Dki.), Asteria Tiar Novita

Indonesian Notary

Saham dalam Perseroan Terbatas yang diambil oleh pemgenga saham harus ditempatkan dan disetor penuh. Dalam proses pendirian maupun perubahan struktur permodalan, bukti setor harus dilampirkan untuk mendapat pengesahan atau persetujuan dari Kementerian Hukum dan HAM. Pembuatan akta mengenai saham Perseroan Terbatas pada umumnya dibuat secara notaril untuk selanjutnya disampaikan ke Kementerian Hukum dan HAM. Dalam praktik masih terdapat anggapan bahwa bukti setor modal merupakan hal yang menjadi salah satu dasar keabsahan kepemilikan saham dalam perseroan. Hal tersebut seolah maragukan kekuatan pembuktian akta autentik sebagai alat bukti yang valid dalam membuktikan kedudukan pemegang saham perseroan atas kepemilikan sahamnya. Selanjutnya masih ditemukan …

Konversi Utang Menjadi Saham Sebagai Kompensasi Tagihan Yang Mengakibatkan Dilusi Saham (Studi Kasus: Putusan Mahkamah Agung Republik Indonesia Nomor 118 Pk/Pdt/2017), Cyntia Catharina Junita

Indonesian Notary

Setiap pemegang saham memiliki hak untuk mendapatkan keuntungan dan manfaat dari penyertaannya dalam suatu perseroan sesuai dengan besaran kepemilikan sahamnya, dimana perseroan memiliki kewajiban untuk memenuhi hak masing-masing pemegang saham tersebut, termasuk pemegang saham minoritas. Suatu perseroan terbatas dapat melakukan penambahan modal sewaktu-waktu sebagaimana diperlukan. Perseroan terbatas wajib untuk menawarkan saham kepada para pemegang saham yang telah ada atas saham baru yang dikeluarkannya tersebut, atau dikenal dengan hak memesan efek terlebih dahulu. Atas kewajiban untuk menawarkan saham baru tersebut terdapat beberapa pengecualian, dimana salah satunya adalah dalam hal konversi utang menjadi penyertaan saham dalam perseroan terbatas yang telah disetujui oleh …

Open World Regulation: The Urgent Need For Federal Legislation On Video Game Loot Boxes, Alex Reyes

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Loot boxes are items in video games that contain randomized prizes that players can purchase with real-world money. In recent years, loot boxes have come under scrutiny because the relationship between behavior and the underlying mechanics of loot boxes are similar to that of addictive behaviors associated with real-world gambling. Many papers suggest solutions focused on industry changes without direct regulation. However, these papers neglect the enormous profit incentive to maintain a business practice which can have detrimental behavioral effects on children. The United States federal government must take example from a growing number of European countries and ban the …

The Effects Of Visions Condition In E-Consumer Protection A Comparative Study In Transaction Law, Ali Al-Mehdawi

UAEU Law Journal

The introduction of electronic financial transactions, which have been classified as distance and international contracts, has created the necessity of creating domestic and international laws that deal with such transactions; the e-consumer protection occupies a large proportion of this field. This study discusses e-consumer protection with an emphasis on analyzing the Emirates' Civil Transaction Legislation, Electronic Transaction Legislation No. 1, 2006 and the Consumer Protection Law No. 24, 2006. The study includes a discussion of e-consumer protection through `viewing goods stipulation, the problems that arise from such a protective condition, and suggests solutions to solve such problems.

The Opioid Crisis Or Climate Change: Which Is More Likely To Succeed Under The Tobacco Litigation Model?, Elizabeth W. De Leon

Texas A&M Law Review

Societal problems can occasionally have legal solutions, and several tools exist to implement change, including litigation and regulation. However, what elements make a societal problem more suitable for litigation or regulation? This Article examines four different societal issues (tobacco use, obesity, opioid addiction, and climate change) to determine whether litigation or regulation is the more appropriate route for success. The tobacco litigation serves as a successful example, while the fast food litigation serves as an unsuccessful example. Six signs of success are derived from the tobacco litigation: a large settlement agreement, evidence of corporate wrongdoing, change in public opinion, the …

Classaction.Gov, Amanda M. Rose

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Essay proposes the creation of a federally run class action website and supporting administration (collectively, Classaction.gov) that would both operate a comprehensive research database on class actions and assume many of the notice and claims-processing functions performed by class action claims administrators today. Classaction.gov would bring long-demanded transparency to class actions and, through forces of legitimization and coordination, would substantially increase the rate of consumer participation in class action settlements. It also holds the key to mitigating other problems in class action practice, such as the inefficiencies and potential abuses associated with multiforum litigation, the limited success of the …