Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: A Look at a New Approach to Consumer Contracts
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: Reasons Why the CFPB Should Deny the Petition for Rulemaking on Post-Dispute Consumer Arbitration Agreements
CFPB Issues Filing Instructions Guide for Small Business Lending Data - The CFPB has published instructions for banks and other covered financial institutions to submit small business lending data that is required to be...more
In a recent decision, EDVA Judge Rossie Alston invalidated the arbitration clause in the terms and conditions for online sales through the Lowe’s Home Centers website on the grounds that the terms and conditions were illusory...more
Unsigned Terms and Conditions found in a preprinted car rental jacket are part of the contract between the parties under Florida, Arizona and Colorado law because they were properly incorporated by reference into the signed...more
On June 4, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued Circular 2024-03 warning that the inclusion of “unlawful or unenforceable” terms in consumer contracts – particularly in the fine print of consumer...more
In a recent unpublished memorandum opinion in a putative class action, Carpenter et al. v. Opportunity Financial, LLC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld an arbitration clause in an agreement governing...more
In this article, we share a timeline of our monthly "bites" for 2023 applicable to the small dollar lending, lease-to-own, and alternative financial services industries. ...more
In this article, we share a timeline of our monthly "bites" for 2023 applicable to consumers protected by nondiscrimination and military protection laws....more
In this article, we share a timeline of our monthly "bites" for 2023 applicable to the auto finance industry. We think it's safe to say that the auto finance industry was top of mind to the CFPB. ...more
Our special guest is Andrea Boyack, Professor, University of Missouri School of Law. We first discuss the principles that underlie our current system of consumer contracts and the system’s role in promoting transactional...more
After more than a year of review, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on December 12, 2023 launched its much-anticipated final rule targeting misleading advertising and sales tactics by new car dealers. First proposed in the...more
We previously reported and released a podcast episode on comments that we and Professor David Sherwyn of Cornell University submitted in opposition to the Petition for Rulemaking filed by a number of consumer advocacy groups...more
Our special guest is David Sherwyn, Professor of Law at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration. In Sept. 2023, a group of consumer advocate organizations filed a Petition for Rulemaking with the CFPB that would...more
Earlier this month, in Fama v. Opportunity Financial LLC, a Magistrate Judge of the federal district court for the Western District of Washington held that the arbitration provision in OppFi’s installment loan agreement is...more
Earlier last week, a group of consumer advocate organizations filed a Petition for Rulemaking with the CFPB that would prohibit the use of pre-dispute arbitration clauses in consumer contracts in favor of arbitration clauses...more
On September 11, 2023, the CFPB filed an administrative consent order against a Nonbank Consumer Finance Company, with its principal place of business in Manchester, New Hampshire. The order alleges that the Company concealed...more
Professor Jeff Sovern recently blogged about the FTC’s June 2023 revisions to its Endorsement Guide. The Guide helps advertisers and endorsers make sure that their advertising using endorsements or testimonials is truthful...more
Professor Jeff Sovern, who recently joined the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law faculty, has recently blogged about a forthcoming Study by academicians at other institutions that will be published in...more
In January 2023, a federal district court in Texas dismissed Michael v. Opportunity Financial, LLC, a putative class action filed in June 2022 claiming that fintech Opportunity Financial, LLC (OppFi), not its out-of-state,...more
On July 19, the CPFB filed a complaint against a lease-to-own finance company, alleging that the company has offered and provided millions of “lease-purchase” and “rental-purchase” financing agreements in ways that have...more
For the past decade, Professor Jeff Sovern has criticized companies for including opt out provisions in their consumer arbitration clauses, even though such provisions give consumers freedom of choice by allowing them to...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a proposed rule last week addressing the “Registry of Supervised Nonbanks that Use Form Contracts to Impose Terms and Conditions that Seek to Waive or Limit Consumer...more
On January 11, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed a rule that would require certain nonbanks to disclose provisions in form contracts that waive consumer rights. The CFPB would then make those terms...more
On Jan. 11, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a proposed rule that would require nonbanks under its supervisory authority, subject to limited exceptions, to annually register information about...more
Downloading an app, buying a product or service, or otherwise interacting with a company frequently requires consumers to consent to multi-page contracts. In a new proposed rule, the CFPB would require nonbank financial...more
California recently enacted Senate Bill 1311, the Military and Veteran Consumer Protection Act of 2022, with the stated intent of strengthening the state's military consumer protection laws by enhancing protections for...more