Consumer Law & Policy Blog

New Federal Housing Administration mortgage underwriting standard

This article by Kenneth Harney explains the new standards:

First-time and move-up home buyers with heavy debt loads, low credit scores and small down payments face a daunting new mortgage hurdle: The Federal Housing Administration is toughening its underwriting standards. Large numbers of applications could be turned down in the coming months as a result. Industry estimates vary about the impact of the agency’s abrupt changes, but mortgage company executives told me last week that they are bracing for reductions in their FHA business by anywhere from 10 percent to 30 percent.

 

More Revisions to the List of Law Schools Teaching Consumer Law

by Jeff Sovern

Sara has updated the list once more in light of comments.  It appears below the fold. We are still accepting comments, so if you have not yet registered yours, please send it in.  As for the statistics, they are as follows:

109 classes total (58.33%)

32 clinics total (15.69%)

88 offer only a class (43.14%)

11 offer only a clinic (5.39%)

21 offer both (10.29%)

120 offer one or the other or both (58.82%)

LSE offers summer course in European Consumer Law

The London School of Economics is offering an intensive course this summer in European Consumer Law. More information here.

FTC orders broadband companies to hand over info on privacy practices

The Hill reports that the Federal Trade Commission is ordering the largest broadband providers to turn over information on their handling of consumer data as the agency launches an extensive review of privacy practices. "Comcast, Verizon and AT&T were among the companies that received orders from the FTC following a 5-0 vote by the agency's commissioners. The FTC said the information would be used to compile a special report on the broadband industry’s privacy practices. ... The effort could shed light on the lucrative and often opaque trafficking of user data for targeted advertising."

The full article is here.

FTC and CFPB report on FDCPA activities

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported on their 2018 activities to administer the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The report highlights both agencies’ law enforcement, education and public outreach, and policy initiatives.

The report is here.

Revised List of Schools Teaching Consumer Law

by Jeff Sovern

Now that we've heard from some readers about other schools teaching consumer law, a more complete list appears after the jump (if you know of still more schools, please let me know).  The totals are even more encouraging than I had thought: 119 schools, or 58.55%, offer either some form of a consumer law non-clinic course or a clinic; 108 schools, or 52.94%, offer a type of consumer law non-clinic class; 32, or 15.69%, have consumer law clinics; 87 (42.65%) offer only a class; 11 (5.39%) offer only a clinic; and 21 offer both (10.29%). For comparison, five years ago 62 schools offered a consumer law course, a clinic, or both.  Back in 2013, Brian Leiter's poll found that consumer law was the top choice for areas of law deserving more attention in the legal academy.  These results suggest that schools acted on that view.

CFPB seeking applications for spots on its advisory committees

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau seeks applications for spots on its advisory committees:

To be sure that we hear from a variety of experts with diverse viewpoints, we set up the Consumer Advisory Board, the Community Bank Advisory Council, the Credit Union Advisory Council, and the Academic Research Council.  These advisory committees provide us with information about emerging trends and practices in the consumer financial marketplace.  They also allow us to hear directly from small financial institutions.

Starting today, we’re accepting applications for membership in all four of our advisory committees. We’re inviting applications from individuals who can provide us with advice as we carry out our work. Here’s what we’re looking for:

• • Experts in consumer protection, community development, consumer finance, fair lending, and civil rights
  • Experts in consumer financial products or services, including consumer reporting, debt collections, and debt relief
  • Representatives of banks and credit unions that primarily serve underserved communities
  • Representatives of communities that have been significantly impacted by higher priced mortgage loans
  • Current employees of credit unions and community banks
  • Academics (experienced economists with a strong research and publishing or practitioner background, and a record of involvement in research and public policy, including public or academic service)

How to apply

For more information on how to apply to serve on the Consumer Advisory Board, Community Bank Advisory Council, Credit Union Advisory Council, or the Academic Research Council, you can:

• • Review instructions on how to submit an application for membership 
  • Learn more about our Advisory Committees
  • Visit our Frequently Asked Questions for more information. 

View the application . Applying online is highly encouraged. Only complete application packets received on or before May 5, 2019, will be given consideration for membership on the advisory committees.

* The Bureau provides access to machine-readable application materials to members of the public that are visually impaired. Download our readable application . 

Thank you,

Office of Public Engagement & Community Liaison
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 

2019 List of Schools Teaching Consumer Law

by Jeff Sovern

Five years ago, I posted a list of law schools teaching consumer law, as compiled by my then-research assistant Preston Postlethwaite.  I've received requests to update the list, and so I asked another research assistant, Sara Krastins, to do so. Sara examined the web sites for the 204 ABA-approved law schools (she couldn't check the web sites for Inter-American, the Judge Advocate General's School, Lincoln Memorial, the Marquette clinics, Pontifical Catholic of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico, Saint Louis, or Texas Southern). According to Sara, as to consumer law offerings,  78 schools had only a class (38.24%; percentages are of the full 204 schools, including the eight schools for which Sara couldn't find information); 13 schools had only a clinic (6.37%); 17 schools had both a class and a clinic (8.33%); and 108 schools had either a class or a clinic (52.94%).  In all, 95 schools offered a class and 30 have a clinic.  That is a dramatic improvement over what we found five years ago, when 53 schools offered a basic course, 21 had a consumer law clinic, and 12 had both a clinic and a basic course. There are, however, two caveats: first, so far the 2019 list is based solely on web sites, and web sites are sometimes inaccurate.  Last time, as this time, we started with the web sites, and people wrote in with additional information which we then used to update the list.  I'm pasting in the list after the jump; if you see anything that is incomplete or inaccurate, please let me know via the comments.  Second, some schools have on their web sites information about the current school year while others have information about next year's classes. so the list may represent an amalgam of courses taught in both the 2018-2019 school year, and the 2019-2020 year. Though these numbers are a big jump over what we saw last time, I'm hoping that readers of the blog report still more schools teaching consumer law.

Watch AT&T's CEO get a robocall during an interview

Here, in The Hill.

They Collect Debts, But They Ain't Debt Collectors - So Says the Supreme Court

In its latest foray into the poorly drafted provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Supreme Court unanimously decided today in Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP that entities who engage in nonjudicial foreclosure either regularly or as their principal business are not (for that reason) "debt collectors" within the meaning of the Act, except for the limited purpose of application of a few provisions tailored to enforcement of security interests.

The Court acknowledged that foreclosing on security interests constitutes collection of debts under the ordinary meaning of those words and thus would have fallen within the Act's definition of debt collectors, which includes both entities whose business has the principal purpose of collection of debts and those who regularly collect debts on behalf of others. But because Congress added a provision to the Act that says the definition "also" includes those whose business is the enforcement of security interests, but only for purposes of one subsection of the act, the Court concluded that Congress must have meant not to include such entities within the definition of debt collectors for all purposes.

Got that? Congress wrote a definition of debt collectors that would include those engaged in nonjudicial foreclosure, but then effectively wrote them out of the Act by writing them into it for a narrower purpose.

That doesn't mean all bets are off for those engaged in nonjudicial foreclosures, because their other activities (including communications aimed at getting debtors to pay outside of the foreclosure process) may subject them to the FDCPA's provisions. And the decision specifically says it doesn't necessarily apply to judicial foreclosure, because judicial foreclosure usually involves more than just enforcement of security interests (that is, the proceedings usually seek a "deficiency judgment" against the debtor).

But it looks as if Congress, either intentionally or by sloppy drafting, left a major gap in the Act's coverage. Or so says the Supreme Court in an opinion drafted by a member of its liberal wing (Breyer) and joined by all his colleagues.