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…
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,…
