Consumer Contracts

Clickwrap Contracts and the Federal Government

03/27/15

The government is a major player in the marketplace as a buyer of goods and services, but legal scholars seldom pay attention to the law governing federal acquisitions. As it turns out this nearly completely ignored branch of contract law is actually way ahead of the curve, at least on the question of shrinkwrap and clickwrap contracts.  Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations contains the Federal Acquisition Regulations promulgated by the General Services Administration.

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Why the World Hates Lawyers

12/09/14

Why does the world hate lawyers?  Because of stuff like this.  You can't make this up:  the on-line menu prices for a Chinese restaurant weren't up-to-date, and a customer was overcharged $4. I get being pissed about that.  But what would most people do?  Just lump it, stop patronizing the restaurant, ask the restaurant for a refund, or complain to the credit card issuer.

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Online Payday Loans Cost More Than Storefront Payday Loans And Customers Are Harassed More Egregiously

10/04/14

Over the last couple years, The Pew Charitable Trusts has put together a useful series of reports regarding payday lending in the United States. The fourth installment was released on October 2.

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Small-Dollar Loans to Servicemembers, the Electronics Version (or an Easy Way to Get Around the Military Lending Act)

07/30/14

Yesterday the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, along with 13 state attorneys general (including from my new home state of Indiana), announced a $92 million settlement and issued an enforcement action against Colfax Capital Corporation and Cul

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Being Unbanked, Part 1

06/17/14

Note from Katie Porter: This guest post is from Jennifer Song, senior staff attorney at the California Monitor Program. Jennifer pitched in and attended this workshop, and I hope Credit Slips readers will enjoy hearing about her experiences in a short series of posts. 

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Legal Notice. Read Carefully: Your Rights May Be Affected

04/17/14

In light of General Mills policy of claiming that its binding mandatory arbitration requirement (with class action waiver) applies to anyone who purchases its products, including via third-party vendors, I have decided, to post the following legal notice, applicable to all persons, everywhere:     

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Yes, Walmart, You Are in Fact Responsible for What You Sell

01/08/14

The Consumerist posted a story about a man who purchased prepaid debit cards from Walmart only to discover that the debit cards in the package were not Vanilla MasterCards as labeled but instead gift cards from other stores that had virtually no stored value left on the card. OK, so someone had tampered with the cards, and Walmart refunds the money.

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The Access-to-Justice Myth

08/01/13

Lauren blogged about a new article by Omri Ben-Shahar, who has written a number of interesting and often (deliberately) provocative articles about consumer contracts. This new article certainly fits in that vein.

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Another Myth of Consumer Law?

07/31/13

As the CFPB gears up to regulate arbitration clauses,
a timely article by Omri Ben-Shahar has been posted on ssrn.

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