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Karens for Hire
12/27/2022 The Washington Post has an article about a new business, "Karens for Hire," that is basically a way to hire a customer service advocate. Having spent way too much time with customer service of late, the article really hit a nerve. It gets at the ...[more]Venmo's Unfair and Abusive Arbitration Opt-Out Provision
04/26/2022 Venmo's changing the terms of its arbitration agreement, and the manner in which it is doing so is unfair and abusive to consumers. The CFPB and state attorneys general need to take action here to protect consumers. ...[more]New Year, New Data in Your Credit Score
01/10/2022 During 2021, reports from the CFPB and consumer advocates spotlighted the role of credit scoring in people's financial growth or stagnation and decline. These reports emphasized racial and ethnic disparities in credit scores and in complaints about ...[more]Cheeky Cruise Company Lawyering
07/11/2021 This past week’s episode of Andrew Jennings’ Business Scholarship Podcast tells a wonderful story of sneaky cruise ship lawyering. Andrew’s guest was John Coyle, contracts/choice-of-law guru. The discussion focused on the 11 th Circuit’s recent decision ...[more]Getting Ahead of Consumer Loan Defaults Post-Pandemic
07/01/2021 On this Tuesday, the Supreme Court refused to lift a ban on evictions for tenants that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently extended through the end of July. The eviction moratoria is one of a handful of debt pauses put in place by the ...[more]Are Mortgage Servicers Ready for the Loan Mod Rush?
05/10/2021 On May 4, the CFPB issued a report sharing information the agency had gathered about mortgage forbearances and delinquencies. One notable takeaway is that Black and Brown homeowners, as well as low-income homeowners, are very prevalent among those in ...[more]A Campaign to Opt-Out
04/25/2021 Following-up on my prior post , let’s talk more about what’s at stake in this little legislative kerfuffle in the Hawkeye state, as well as how consumer advocates should seize on this moment in a different way. ...[more]Of Usury, Preemption, and Fancy Stationary Bikes
04/21/2021 Greetings, Slipsters ! I’m thrilled to be here guest blogging, and I thank the editors for having me. So with that, let me get started… Usury, preemption, and pandemic fitness are all colliding here in Iowa. ...[more]Consumers and Price Volatility: Texas Electricity Prices
02/21/2021 Some Texas consumers who didn't lose power are now finding themselves socked with massive electric bills, as high as $17,000. The reason? They were paying variable kW/h pricing for their electricity at wholesale rates, without any sort of price ...[more]Commercial and Contract Law: Questions, Ideas, Jargon
12/01/2020 In the Spring I am teaching a research and writing seminar called Advanced Commercial Law and Contracts. Credit Slips readers have been important resources for project ideas in the past, and I'd appreciate hearing what you have seen out in the world ...[more]American Predatory Lending and the North Carolina model
05/22/2020 My coauthor Ed Balleisen has co-founded a program on consumer lending of interest to Credit Slips readers. Its initial data collection is particularly useful in documenting the North Carolina experience and its implications for other states. ...[more]Coronavirus Will Hasten the Shift To App-Based Banking and Lending. How Will That Affect People's Pocketbooks?
04/14/2020 Over at the Machine Lawyering blog -- organized and edited by the Chinese University of Hong Kong's Law Faculty’s Centre for Financial Regulation and Economic Development -- Slipster Nathalie Martin and I just posted some commentary about our new ...[more]11th Circuit: Student Borrower Consumer Claims not Preempted by HEA
04/14/2020 An 11th Circuit panel ruled last week that student loan borrowers may assert state law misrepresentation claims against a student loan servicer that falsely told them their FFEL loans qualified for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. ...[more]Treasury Must Act Now To Protect Relief Payments From Debt Collectors
04/08/2020 The CARES Act provides for direct "rebate" payments to American households. Treasury is gearing up to send some of those payments out soon. But Congress forgot to protect the payments from garnishment. ...[more]Daniel Schwarcz on the Evolution of Insurance Contracts
02/08/2020 I shudder even as I write these words, but I’m increasingly fascinated by insurance contracts. If you are interested in the processes by which standard form contracts evolve – which I am -- then you can’t help but be sucked into this world. Coming from ...[more]Coercive "Consent" to Paperless Statements
11/13/2019 If you've logged on to any sort of on-line financial account in the past few years, there's a very good chance that you've been asked to consent to receive your periodic statements electronically, rather than on paper. Financial ...[more]Driven to Bankruptcy — New Research from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project
09/16/2019 In America, people drive — to work, to the doctor, to the grocery store, to their kids' daycare, to see their aging parents. Research shows that car ownership increases the probability of employment and number of hours worked; households without cars ...[more]Ditech, Reverse Mortgages, Consumer Concerns, and Section 363(o)
08/30/2019 A couple days ago, Judge Garrity Jr. of the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York issued a 132 page opinion denying confirmation of Ditech's proposed plan. Ditech, of course, is an originator and servicer of mortgages, including ...[more]What Is "Credit"? AfterPay, Earnin', and ISAs
07/16/2019 A major issue in consumer finance regulation in mid-20th century was what counted as “credit” and was therefore subject to state usury laws and (after 1968) to the federal Truth in Lending Act. Many states had a time-price differential doctrine that held ...[more]