Countering Elder Exploitation in the Age of a Global Pandemic
This is the second in a series of articles about financial exploitation of older adults related to the coronavirus pandemic. Learn more about elder justice. The first article in this series was published in March 2021 and explored the most recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data on elder exploitation (through the fourth quarter of 2020). That…
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…
Attorney General Consumer Protection News: July 2021
NEW! We are now providing a digest of consumer protection-related press releases from state and territorial attorneys general and a selection of federal consumer-related releases on ConsumerResources.org, NAAG’s consumer-facing website. Multistate Actions Led by a North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein and Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III, a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general announced a proposed $26…
Federal Consumer Protection News: July 2021
NEW! We are now providing a digest of consumer protection-related press releases from state and territorial attorneys general and a selection of federal consumer-related releases on ConsumerResources.org, NAAG’s consumer-facing website. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) warned landlords and consumer reporting agencies to report rental information accurately as the federal eviction moratorium ends…
Consumer Chief of the Month: L. Christopher Styron, Louisiana Attorney General’s Office
Greetings to all of my colleagues in the attorney general community across the country. I appreciate the NAGTRI Center for Consumer Protection giving me the opportunity to share some information about Louisiana’s Consumer Protection Section and myself. I joined the Consumer Protection Section of the Louisiana Department of Justice as an Assistant Attorney General in…
Attorney General Consumer Protection News: June 2021
Multistate Actions Led by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and New York Attorney General Letitia James, a bipartisan coalition of 28 attorneys general wrote Congress, urging it to restore the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) authority to obtain consumer restitution in actions filed under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act. The Supreme Court’s recent decision in…
Supporting Charities in the Time of COVID: The View From the New York Office of the Attorney General
We know all too well that the past year has seen unprecedented challenges for people throughout our nation and all over the world. In my state of New York, the pandemic’s impact on the nonprofit sector, which in normal times employs 1.25 million people (18% of New York’s workforce) has been enormous. We continue to…
Federal Consumer Protection News: June 2021
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The CFPB issued rules designed to prevent avoidable foreclosures as homeowners exit COVID-19 hardship forbearances. The federal eviction moratorium ends June 30, 2021. The new rules go into effect August 31, 2021 and require servicers to meet temporary procedural safeguards before referring 120-day delinquent accounts for foreclosure. According to the Bureau,…
Improving Cybersecurity By Applying Consumer Protection Laws to Software
When a plane crashes because its aircraft control software has been incorrectly coded, the software manufacturer may be liable for damages. However, when a computer software application is incorrectly coded, leading to a major cyber-attack and interruption of international commerce, the vendor company which created the software almost never incurs liability. Why? Would amending consumer…
