Attorney General Consumer Protection News: September 2021
Multistate Actions Led by Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, a bipartisan coalition of 11 attorneys general announced settlements with StubHub for refusing to refund ticketholders for COVID-19-related cancellations. StubHub had refused to provide refunds, instead providing customers a 120% credit for future events. Under the settlements, StubHub agreed to provide refunds unless customers elected to…
The Relentless Battle to Eliminate Robocalls
As attorneys general, we have made it our mission to protect the residents of Michigan and Ohio from illegal robocallers. Robocallers are like a plague of locusts, except these locusts use 21st century technology to swarm through the international telecommunications landscape where they strike in overwhelming numbers, working to scam and defraud…
Consumer Chief of the Month: Steve Kaufmann, Colorado Attorney General’s Office
Just before I walk (or log) out of meetings, I often tell my colleagues “I love my job.” Why? First, my consumer protection teammates are incredibly dedicated and committed to working together. Second, the problems that we tackle tangibly impact the lives of the people of Colorado. And third, we deal with interesting, often cutting-edge…
Federal Consumer Protection News: September 2021
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) settled with student lender Better Future Forward, Inc., an income share agreement (ISA) provider for mispresenting its product and failing to comply with federal consumer financial law that governs private student loans. Under ISAs, students agree to pay a percentage of their income for a…
Federal Consumer Protection News: August 2021
Federal Trade Commission Online lender LendingClub Corporation agreed to pay $18 million to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that the company deceived consumers about hidden fees that it charged and whether their loan applications were approved. In addition, the settlement bars LendingClub from making misrepresentations to loan applicants and requires that the company clearly…
Attorney General Consumer Protection News: August 2021
Multistate Actions Led by Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to fight back against the scourge of illegal robocalls by moving up the deadline for smaller telephone companies to implement caller ID…
Consumer Protection During COVID-19: What We’ve Learned So Far
Protecting people from scams is a challenging mission even without the overlay of a global pandemic. But as the past 18 months have demonstrated, con artists view every breaking news story about COVID-19 as an opportunity for a new fraud or flimflam. Consumer protection agencies – including the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general…
Consumer Chief of the Month: Scott L. Barnhart, Indiana Attorney General’s Office
As a Consumer Protection Chief, I am reminded daily just how much of an impact, either positive or negative, business practices have on consumers’ day-to-day lives. Whether it is a data breach of personal information or a bad customer experience, citizens have dozens of experiences as consumers every week. As a private practice litigator, I…
A Review of CPSC and NHTSA Safety Information Transparency and Recall Authority
The free market has an incredible ability to regulate itself; businesses have incentives to make their products safe and reliable or risk that consumers will shop elsewhere. However, potentially dangerous products still reach the market despite such incentives. Both the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) work to…
Consumer Chief of the Month: Crystal Utley Secoy, Mississippi Attorney General’s Office
It is a privilege to work in a bit of a bubble where every day I collaborate with attorneys, from New York to California and every state in between, who, no matter their background or political stripes, have one goal in common: to work together in order to protect consumers. I am grateful for those…
