CreditSlips

The House will be voting tomorrow on a proposed balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that would include a Proposition 13-like supermajority requirement for any tax increases.  It's unlikely to go anywhere, but it's worth discussing, if only because this budget lunacy is becoming half-way respectable.

From the public signals, it seems as thought the President and Democratic leadership are trying to reach a reasonable deal with the GOP, but are ultimately determined to avoid a default on US debt or ratings downgrade no matter what the price.  They'll agree to huge cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and other parts of the social safety net if that's what it takes to avoid a default.  I sense that part of the GOP gets this and is going to milk them for all they're worth.

As challenges to whether a "bank" (usually actually a securitized trust) has the right to foreclose because it owns the note and mortgage become more common, rumors swirl about the ability to use such tactics to get a "free house." There are a few instances of consumer getting a free house, see here and

Following our prison visit in clinic this past week, we promised to report on a brand new (to us) scam, one involving a company that helps people “find” payday lenders. My student Bridget Mullins reports on it here.

Many thanks to Credit Slips for providing me with the opportunity to discuss some of the key consumer protection issues in insurance regulation.  As I hope I have shown over my short stint here, there is much that needs to be done in this important area, which often receives less attention from academics and the press than consumer protection in credit.