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Oct 25, 2024 | 
jdsupra.com | John Culhane Jr. |Brian Turetsky
One of the country’s largest automotive retailers filed suit against the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) on October 4, arguing that the Supreme Court’s recent landmark decision in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy requires that complaints such as the one filed against it be filed in court, and not considered in an administrative proceeding.
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Oct 23, 2024 | 
jdsupra.com | John Culhane Jr. |Brian Turetsky
On October 16, the FTC issued its final amendments to the Negative Option Rule, which now applies to all negative option programs and includes a “click to cancel” provision intended to make it easier for consumers to cancel their enrollment in order to halt continued charges.
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Oct 14, 2024 | 
jdsupra.com | Alan Kaplinsky |Brian Turetsky
On October 7, the CFPB released the Fall edition of its Supervisory Highlights, “Special Edition Auto Finance,” focusing on the auto finance market. The report highlights various supervisory observations and enforcement actions taken to address issues the CFPB asserts it has seen in the auto finance sector, including deceptive marketing practices, wrongful repossessions, and failures in servicing and add-on product administration.
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Sep 30, 2024 | 
jdsupra.com | John Culhane Jr. |Brian Turetsky
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (“CFPB”) Office of Servicemember Affairs Annual Report was released on September 24, 2024, highlighting areas of concern regarding student lending and noting that the number of complaints that servicemembers filed with the CFPB increased in 2023. The report identifies trends in complaints, highlights financial services issues impacting servicemembers and veterans, and offers recommendations to improve financial protections for the military community.
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Sep 5, 2024 | 
jdsupra.com | John Culhane Jr. |Brian Turetsky
On August 28, 2024, the CFPB issued a consumer advisory warning that many video games and “virtual worlds” increasingly resemble traditional banking and payment systems that allow the storage and exchange of billions of dollars in assets, including virtual currencies. The advisory emphasizes that these “non-traditional” markets have many of the risks associated with real-world transactions, as well as their own unique risks, but without gaming companies providing protection against such risks.
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Aug 27, 2024 | 
jdsupra.com | John Culhane Jr. |Alan Kaplinsky |Brian Turetsky
In February 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or the “Bureau”) announced an auto finance data pilot, where it ordered nine large auto lenders to provide information about their auto lending portfolios. These lenders consisted of banks, finance companies, and captive lenders (manufacturer-owned finance companies that generally provide below-market interest rate auto financing to consumers).
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Aug 21, 2024 | 
jdsupra.com | Richard Andreano Jr. |John Culhane Jr. |Brian Turetsky
On August 15, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Arizona Attorney General announced a proposed settlement with an Arizona-based vehicle dealership to resolve allegations that the dealership misrepresented prices in online advertisements, engaged in unfair and deceptive practices related to the sale of add-on products, and discriminated against Latino consumers by charging higher interest rates and more expensive add-on charges.
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Aug 21, 2024 | 
jdsupra.com | John Culhane Jr. |Michael Guerrero |Brian Turetsky
The Federal Trade Commission on August 14 announced a final trade regulation rule intended to fight fake reviews and testimonials by prohibiting their purchase or sale and by allowing the agency to seek civil penalties against violators. The final rule, 16 CFR Part 465: Trade Regulation on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, follows a proposed rule issued in June 2023 and an informal hearing on the proposal that was held in February.
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Aug 14, 2024 | 
jdsupra.com | John Culhane Jr. |Brian Turetsky
Career Step LLC, an online career training company has been ordered to pay $43.5 million in cash and debt cancellation to resolve FTC charges that the company “lured consumers, specifically servicemembers and their families, with deceptive ads that falsely touted inflated employment outcomes, job placement, and partnerships with prominent companies.”The company will cancel $27.8 million in debt and pay $15.7 million to provide redress to consumers harmed by its deceptive advertising.
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Aug 13, 2024 | 
jdsupra.com | John Culhane Jr. |Michael Guerrero |Brian Turetsky
CarShield, a company that sells vehicle service contracts (VSCs), will pay $10 million to settle FTC allegations that its advertisements and telemarketing pitches deceived consumers, the agency announced on July 31. The money will be used to provide refunds to consumers who were defrauded.
