Consumer Protection Law Commons^™

The Potemkin Temptation Or, The Intoxicating Effect Of Rhetoric And Narrativity On American Craft Whiskey, Derek H. Kiernan-Johnson

Publications

No abstract provided.

Consumer Protection In The Age Of Connected Everything, Terrell Mcsweeny

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Access To Consumer Bankruptcy, Pamela Foohey

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This essay examines the state of access to justice in the context of consumer bankruptcy from two vantage points: (1) how people decide that their money problems are legal problems addressable by filing bankruptcy; and (2) the barriers people face in using the consumer bankruptcy system. To shed new light on how people decide to use bankruptcy to address their financial troubles, I analyze a sample of narratives accompanying consumers' complaints about financial products and services submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I also chronicle the evolution of research regarding consumer bankruptcy’s “local legal culture,” systemic racial bias, and …

Free-Market Failure: The Wells Fargo Arbitration Clause Example, Jeff Sovern

Faculty Publications

In September 2016, regulators charged Wells Fargo with opening millions of unauthorized accounts on behalf of its customers. When some of those customers filed class actions against Wells, the bank initially responded by moving to compel arbitration on the ground that the consumers had agreed to arbitrate disputes and waive their class action rights. Because most customers with claims in small amounts would probably have foregone filing an arbitration claim, the effect would have been to leave their damages uncompensated except for the refunding of fees, which Wells agreed to in the consent order it entered into with regulators. The …

Validation And Verification Vignettes: More Results From An Empirical Study Of Consumer Understanding Of Debt Collection Validation Notices, Jeff Sovern, Kate E. Walton, Nathan Frishberg

Faculty Publications

The Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act obliges debt collectors to provide certain notices to consumers from whom they are attempting to collect debts. This Article is our second to report findings from the first academic study of consumer understanding of one of those notices, commonly called the validation notice. We showed consumers different versions of collection letters and then asked questions to measure their understanding of the notices.

This Article explores some issues not discussed in our first Article. For example, in this Article, we examine what consumers thought collectors would have to do in response to a request …

Reaching For The Stars: A Proposal To The Ftc To Help Deter Astroturfing And Fake Reviews, Matthew Barish

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Admissibility Of Sampling Evidence To Prove Individual Damages In Class Actions, Hillel J. Bavli, John Kenneth Felter

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The 2016 Supreme Court decision in Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo revived the use of “representative” or sampling evidence in class actions. Federal courts are now more receptive to class plaintiffs’ efforts to prove classwide liability and, occasionally, aggregate damages, with sampling evidence. However, federal courts still routinely deny motions for class certification because they find that calculations of class members’ individual damages defeat the predominance prerequisite of Rule 23(b)(3). As a result, meritorious classwide claims founder. In this paper, we combine legal and statistical analyses and propose a novel solution to this dilemma that adheres to the Tysondecision …

Ride Oversharing: Privacy Regulation Within The Gig Economy, Casey Thomas

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Consumer Protection, Matthew J. Mcgowan

SMU Annual Texas Survey

No abstract provided.

Commodifying Consumer Data In The Era Of The Internet Of Things, Stacy-Ann Elvy

Articles & Chapters

Internet of Things (“IOT”) products generate a wealth of data about consumers that was never before widely and easily accessible to companies. Examples include biometric and health-related data, such as fingerprint patterns, heart rates and calories burned. This Article explores the connection between the types of data generated by the IOT and the financial frameworks of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code and the Bankruptcy Code. It critiques these regimes, which enable the commodification of consumer data, as well as laws aimed at protecting consumer data, such as the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, various state biometric …

Adminization: Gatekeeping Consumer Contracts, Yonathan A. Arbel

Articles

Large companies and debt collectors frequently file unmeritorious claims against consumers. Recent high-profile actions brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau against J.P. Morgan, Citibank, and other large debt collectors illustrate the breadth and importance of this phenomenon. Due to the limited financial power of individuals, consumers often do not defend against such baseless claims, which results in the entry of millions of default judgments every year. To combat this problem, policymakers and scholars have explored a variety of court-based solutions that would make it easier for consumers to defend in court, but these prove ineffectual.

To solve the problem …

Assessing The Efficacy Of The Cfpb's Regulation Of Student Loan Companies, Ian E. Calhoun

Georgia Law Review

Outstanding student loan balances totaled over
$1.38 trillion as of December 31, 2017 with 11% of
student loan debt over ninety days delinquent or in
default. Due to half of all student loans being in
deferment, grace periods, or forbearance, the actual
delinquency rate is likely double the above figure.
Delinquent student borrowers enrolled in some form of
college education expect to improve their financial
position. Instead, many find themselves unable to break
even under the weight of large amounts of debt with
confusing, and often misleading, repayment plans.
Many blame the lending practices of student loan
providers and servicers …

Cities As A Source Of Consumers’ Financial Empowerment, Susan Block-Lieb

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Identity Harm, Sarah Dadush

University of Colorado Law Review

In September 2015, the world learned that Volkswagen had rigged millions of its "clean diesel" vehicles with illegal software designed to cheat emissions tests. Contrary to what had been advertised, the vehicles are anything but clean. When affected owners learned that their cars were toxic, what were they most upset about? Was it that their cars were now worth fewer dollars? Or that they had been deceived into being hyperpolluting drivers, when they thought they were being green? Coverage of the emissions scandal strongly suggests that affected car owners experienced both kinds of disappointment, economic and noneconomic, and in heavy …

The Gdpr’S Version Of Algorithmic Accountability, Margot Kaminski

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Risk Of An Anti-Consumer Cfpb, Christopher L. Peterson

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

The risks of an anti-consumer CFPB go beyond just those cases currently under investigation. America has a massive financial sector that is constantly evolving and reinventing itself. This striving for innovation and efficiency is, of course, one of the American financial system’s great advantages. Nevertheless, the Sun-Tzu-worshipping, MBA-wielding financiers that use boilerplate consumer credit contracts as weapons in their endless market-share battles are paying attention to what the agency is doing—and more importantly, to what it is not doing. A chilled CFPB law enforcement program will embolden the consumer finance industry to roll out more misleading advertising, more deceptive sales …

Rethinking Article Iii Standing In Class Action Consumer Protection Cases Following Spokeo V. Robins, Joshua Scott Olin

University of Miami Business Law Review

The Supreme Court recently handed down the landmark decision of Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, holding that a “bare procedural violation” of a federal consumer protection statute—namely, the Fair Credit Reporting Act—was not enough to satisfy Article III standing because the injury alleged was particularized but not concrete. After Spokeo, those wishing to bring suit based on consumer protection statutes will have a much more difficult time showing that the injury suffered was “concrete” enough to confer Article III standing and, as a result, the term “consumer protection” will be rendered meaningless. Unless the Supreme Court revisits the issue …

Video Review; Routine Data Sharing Practices Place Video-Streaming Providers In The Crosshairs Of The Video Privacy Protection Act, Jeremiah P. Ledwidge

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

The Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (VPPA) creates a private cause of action for any consumer whose personally identifiable information has been disclosed by a video tape service provider to a third party. The rapid growth of media companies that provide free internet-based video-streaming services, and the technologically-advanced advertising methods employed to fund this business model, have created uncertainty regarding the specific consumer segments the VPPA is designed to protect. The extensive role that third-party providers play in the collection, analysis, and segmentation of user data in the personalized advertising process raises justifiable privacy concerns for consumers. Recent VPPA …

Slipping Through The Cracks: How Digital Music Streaming Cuts Corners On Artists’ Royalty Revenues Globally, Frances Lewis

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

At a time when the digital distribution of music is dominating the music industry, there are more music consumers than ever. This makes it vitally important for performing artists to receive the credit they are due. An inherent problem in music’s digital distribution market is that music streaming companies often fail to acquire proper licenses to expand their music libraries faster than their competitors. Performing artists who may not have the same income stream as their A-list counterparts often cannot bear the cost of litigation to pursue uncredited royalties. The U.S. class action model provides performing artists with a legal …

Reflections On Liability Of Air Carriers For Delay, Vernon Nase

The University of Notre Dame Australia Law Review

This paper provides an analysis of both international and Australian law on the liability of air carriers and compensation for delay. It discusses the need for States to develop standard regulatory responses to delay in international carriage. It uses the EC Regulation and the New Zealand legislation as models for developing clearer legal principles and ensuring appropriate compensation for passengers affected by delay. It concludes that domestic regulation and guidance regarding delay and overbooking of flights is required to ensure appropriate liability of air carriers and clarity for passengers.