New York Consumer Law Blog

The National Consumer Law Center has issued a review of the Unfair and Deceptive Practices Laws of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Regulations differ drastically, state-to-state. “In many states, they write, “the deficiencies are glaring. Legislation or court decisions in dozens of states have narrowed the scope of UDAP laws or granted sweeping exemptions to entire industries.”

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Federal regulators are warning banks and other financial institutions about an expanding area of financial theft. With increasing regularity, thieves are creating identities out of thin air and running up balances on lines of credit using the phantom identities. It’s costing the financial industry billions, and presumably the costs are being passed on to customers

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Credit bureaus have reportedly returned to the practice of “trigger listing,” used extensively in the lead up to the 2008 housing market-crisis. Consumer advocate, Ed Mierzwinski, describes the process as follows: When a consumer applies for a loan to purchase property, the credit bureaus alert potential lenders to the transaction; those competitors, which Mierzwinski notes are often the industry’s “bottom feeders,” reach out to the home buyer, claiming to offer a better rate. The problem, according to Mierzwinski, is that this situation breeds deceptive practices, as homebuyers are put under pressure to complete the transaction.

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Agencies under President Trump’s executive discretion have taken a laid back approach to consumer protections relative to previous administrations. The Washington Post writes: “At the [CFPB], for example, enforcement actions have dropped from an average of three-to-five each month during the past four years down to zero since a Trump appointee took charge of the agency in late November.” Under the guidance of Mick Mulvaney, the CFPB is reportedly deferring enforcement actions to state attorneys general and regulatory bodies.

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Last month, Senator Jack Reed (D) of Rhode Island proposed legislation which would give consumers discretion over who sees their all-important credit information. The Control Your Personal Credit Information Act would require credit bureaus to request permission from consumers in order to share their highly personal credit-information with third-parties. Senator Reed states: “under existing law, the current consumer reporting system is backwards.  Consumer reporting agencies collect so much information on us, often without our consent, so at the very least, they should ask us for our permission before they share or sell our information.”

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As part of its 20^th annual Consumer Protection Week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is arming consumers with the tools and education necessary to combat identity theft, scammers, and the like. The FTC has released this blog as a reference to access the varied tools.
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Federal prosecutors say that Mexican citizen, Andres Avelino Anduaga, extracted in excess of $350,000 in federal, state and local benefits over nearly four decades, while residing both within and outside the United States.  The investigation, which began in 2014, has resulted in a settlement between Anduaga and the federal government.

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