In this crossover episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast and Regulatory Oversight, Chris Willis, Kim Phan, and Stephen Piepgrass provide insights on a new joint privacy task force among several state AGs, known as the...more
The Massachusetts attorney general’s (AG) office has finalized new consumer protection regulations aimed at eliminating hidden “junk fees” and improving price transparency. Set to take effect on September 2, the regulations...more
5/14/2025
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
E-Commerce ,
Fees ,
Final Rules ,
Goods or Services ,
Hidden Fees ,
New Regulations ,
Price Transparency ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Retail Market ,
State Attorneys General
In this episode of Regulatory Oversight, Stephen Piepgrass is joined by colleagues Brad Weber and Christy Matelis from the firm's Antitrust Practice Group to explore the evolving landscape of right-to-repair laws across the...more
5/13/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Magnuson-Moss Act ,
Manufacturers ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Right to Repair ,
State Attorneys General ,
Technology Sector
Illinois Attorney General (AG) Kwame Raoul and Minnesota AG Keith Ellison have joined the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in a lawsuit to block the acquisition of Surmodics Inc. by GTCR BC Holdings LLC, two major manufacturers...more
5/9/2025
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Healthcare ,
Medical Devices ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Private Equity ,
Section 5 ,
Section 7 ,
State Attorneys General ,
Statutory Violations ,
The Clayton Act
On April 16, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced a $12 million settlement through a consent decree with Direct Energy Services LLC (Direct Energy). Direct Energy is an alternative retail electric supplier (ARES)...more
On Thursday, March 20, a federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois granted final approval to a settlement agreement under which Clearview AI (Clearview) agreed to pay an estimated $51.75 million to a nationwide class...more
5/1/2025
/ Algorithms ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
CAFA ,
Class Action ,
Clearview AI ,
Data Brokers ,
Data Collection ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
Personal Information ,
Settlement Agreements ,
State Attorneys General ,
Statutory Violations
In mid-April, Rhode Island Attorney General (AG) Peter F. Neronha announced a settlement with A.R. Building Company, Inc. (ARBC), a national real estate management and development business with properties throughout Rhode...more
4/29/2025
/ Affordable Housing ,
Application Fees ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Landlords ,
Real Estate Market ,
Real Estate Professionals ,
Rental Property ,
Rhode Island ,
Settlement Agreements ,
State Attorneys General ,
Statutory Violations ,
Tenants ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On March 10, California Attorney General (AG) Rob Bonta announced an investigative sweep of the location data industry for potential noncompliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)....more
4/16/2025
/ Advertising ,
Attorney General ,
California ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Data Brokers ,
Data Collection ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Geolocation ,
Location Data ,
Sensitive Personal Information ,
Settlement ,
Statutory Violations
In recent years, the safety of baby food has become a top priority for state attorneys general (AG) and federal agencies. In April 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its “Closer to Zero” plan to...more
4/11/2025
/ Baby Products ,
Final Guidance ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Food Safety ,
Food Supply ,
Lead ,
Manufacturers ,
New Guidance ,
New Regulations ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
State Attorneys General ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
USDA
In a significant regulatory shift, the Texas Lottery Commission has enacted an immediate ban on lottery ticket courier services in the state, effective February 24. This decisive move marks a stark departure from the...more
4/7/2025
/ Couriers ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Gambling ,
Lottery ,
Mobile Apps ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Attorneys General ,
Texas
Several state attorneys general (AGs) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have begun scrutinizing ancestry tracking company 23andMe following its recent announcement that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As part of...more
4/7/2025
/ 23andMe ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Biometric Information ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
DNA ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Genetic Materials ,
Popular ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Privacy Laws ,
State Attorneys General ,
State Privacy Laws
The Office of Massachusetts Attorney General (AG) Andrea Campbell announced the criminal indictment of several Massachusetts-based health care providers and their owners in connection with allegedly false claims they...more
4/4/2025
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Indictments ,
Insurance Claims ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicaid ,
Medicaid Reimbursements ,
Physicians ,
State Attorneys General
On March 24, cryptocurrency investment firm Galaxy Digital Holdings (Galaxy) entered into an assurance of discontinuance (AOD) with New York Attorney General (AG) Letitia James to resolve allegations that Galaxy engaged in...more
4/4/2025
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investment ,
Investment Firms ,
Market Manipulation ,
Misrepresentation ,
New York ,
Penalties ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Regulation ,
Settlement ,
State Attorneys General
On March 21, Florida Attorney General (AG) James Uthmeier’s Consumer Protection Division announced the resolution of ongoing litigation against a network of moving brokerage companies accused of misleading consumers. These...more
4/4/2025
/ Damages ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Advertising ,
Fraud ,
Hidden Fees ,
Misleading Impressions ,
Misrepresentation ,
Moving Companies ,
Settlement ,
State Attorneys General ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
Last month, Arizona Attorney General (AG) Kris Mayes announced a lawsuit alleging that CBR Systems, Inc. (CBR), one of the nation’s largest cord blood banking companies, engaged in deceptive and unfair practices....more
New York Attorney General (AG) Letitia James recently announced her support for legislation that would significantly broaden the state’s consumer protection statute to prohibit not just deceptive acts, but also unfair and...more
Alaska’s Department of Law’s Consumer Protection Unit recently announced it obtained a Superior Court order issuing a $250,000 civil penalty against B. Merry Studio, which the state alleged to have marketed products as being...more
3/28/2025
/ Alaska ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Country of Origin ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Advertising ,
Goods or Services ,
Labeling ,
Manufacturers ,
Marketing ,
Misleading Impressions ,
Popular ,
Product Labels ,
State Attorneys General ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On March 7, Arizona Attorney General (AG) Kristin Mayes filed a novel lawsuit alleging consumer fraud and racketeering against numerous entities, individuals, and even law firms and title companies involved in the residential...more
3/27/2025
/ Consumer Bankruptcy ,
Consumer Fraud ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreclosure ,
Fraud ,
Homeowners ,
Mortgages ,
Professional Misconduct ,
Purchase Agreement ,
Racketeering ,
Residential Real Estate Contracts ,
State Attorneys General ,
Title Companies ,
Underwater Homeowners ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
Indiana Attorney General (AG) Todd Rokita recently partnered with the Indiana Gaming Commission to alert consumers about advertisements for illegal gambling....more
3/25/2025
/ Advertising ,
Casinos ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Advertising ,
Gambling ,
Online Advertisements ,
Online Gaming ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sports Betting ,
State Attorneys General ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The Washington State Attorney General’s (AG) Office filed a lawsuit against Renton Collections Inc., accusing the company of violating Washington’s Collection Agency Act by failing to include certain disclosures in their...more
Recent actions by the Pennsylvania and Iowa state attorneys general (AG) suggest increasing regulatory scrutiny of bitcoin transaction machines (BTMs) in connection with the role they allegedly play in facilitating scams. In...more
Our company experienced a cybersecurity incident. It seemed pretty minor — just a few suspicious emails and an employee’s account being locked. To my dismay, we’re now hearing from our IT team that the issue is more serious....more
On March 11, New Jersey Attorney General (AG) Matthew Platkin and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR) announced that DCR issued a finding of probable cause against Advance Funding Partners/Same Day Funding (Advance...more
3/17/2025
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Protection ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Hostile Environment ,
Loan Applications ,
New Jersey ,
Probable Cause ,
Race Discrimination ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Retaliation ,
State Attorneys General ,
Whistleblowers
In this episode of Regulatory Oversight, Chuck Slemp welcomes his former boss, Virginia Attorney General (AG) Jason Miyares. With more than two decades of shared history, Chuck and Jason delve into a candid conversation about...more
On January 15, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Minnesota, and Illinois filed a lawsuit against Deere & Company (Deere). The complaint, which Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona have since joined, accuses Deere of creating...more
3/11/2025
/ Agribusiness ,
Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Farm Supplies ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
John Deere ,
Manufacturers ,
OEM ,
Right to Repair ,
Sherman Act ,
State Attorneys General ,
Unfair Competition