Last week, a split federal appeals panel ruled that the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is unconstitutional because the Bureau’s sole Director can not be removed from office at the whim of the President. While the CFPB has yet to appeal this decision, a filing in a separate lawsuit provides a preview of the argument the Bureau could eventually make to try to overturn the ruling. [More]
Government Policy
Feds Use Search Warrant To Make Everyone In Building Unlock Their Phones
By 10.19.16
If the cops show up with a search warrant, well, you expect they can search the premises. But showing up with a warrant that says every single person on a certain property has to unlock their fingerprint-reading phones and present them for search, too? That’s… pretty surprising. And yet, it turns out, earlier this year, that’s what happened in California. [More]
Maker Of Krylex, Hammer-Tite, Kwix Fix Glues Stops Claiming Products “Made in USA”
By 10.19.16
Anyone can claim that their product is “Made in the U.S.A.,” but unless that product is actually manufactured in America from materials made in America, you might be breaking the law. Eight months after being sued by the Federal Trade Commission for claiming its glues are “proudly made in the U.S.A.” even though the products were made using foreign-sourced chemicals, the manufacturer has agreed to stop this faux patriotic boasting. [More]
New Federal Rules Mean Airlines Have To Offer Refunds For Delayed Baggage
By 10.19.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
The White House issued new regulations this week that are aimed at protecting airline consumers by giving them more information to compare the cost of flights and the performance of air carriers. The Obama administration also wants airlines to refund checked bag fees when luggage is delayed. [More]
Nursing Home Industry Files Lawsuit To Keep Preventing Patients From Filing Lawsuits
By 10.18.16
Last month, the federal government issued new rules for nursing homes, barring most long-term care facilities from using forced arbitration agreements to stop new residents from filing lawsuits against the homes. Now nursing home operators and industry trade groups are challenging that rule by doing the one thing they want to prevent their patients from doing: going to court. [More]
London Uber Drivers Must Pass English Language Test
By 10.18.16
Operating a worldwide ride-sharing platform means that Uber often finds itself disputing local rules and regulations. Most of these battles have been about taxes permits, insurance, or background checks for drivers, but a new directive handed down by London’s transportation agency requires drivers to pass an English language proficiency exam. [More]
If FTC Can’t Resurrect Lawsuit Over AT&T’s “Unlimited” Data, Telecoms May Be Even More Untouchable
By 10.17.16
In August, an appeals court threw out the Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit against AT&T over the way it marketed its “unlimited” data plans (which were anything but unlimited). Now the FTC is taking its case up the legal ladder, making the case that if it’s not allowed to sue AT&T, then all phone and internet providers can more easily get away with deceptive business practices. [More]
Going To Cuba? You May Now Bring Home All The Rum And Cigars You Can Carry
By 10.14.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
The Caribbean island nation of Cuba is many different things to many different people. However, to a very large percentage of Americans, the name is almost synonymous with quality, if not entirely legal, consumables: cigars and rum. No wonder, then, that news of increased access to celebratory smokes and libations from Cuba is being met with good cheer. [More]
No More Wearing Glasses To Look Smart In Your Passport Photo
By 10.14.16
Some folks wear glasses so frequently that they look like a different person when they aren’t bespectacled, so it would seem to make sense that they should be wearing eyeglasses when getting their passport photos taken. Not so, says the State Department, which is reminding people that come Nov. 1, your specs are probably not welcome in new passport pics. [More]
Chicago Might Be Next To Try Tax On Sodas & Sugary Drinks
By 10.13.16
Days after the Whole Health Organization announced it supported taxes on sugary drinks in order to curb obesity, the largest county in Illinois is weighing that option — following in the footsteps of Berkeley, CA, and Philadelphia, where a similar tax is now subject to a beverage industry legal battle. [More]
New York State Grants Unemployment Benefits To Two Former Uber And Lyft Drivers
By 10.13.16
The decision to grant unemployment benefits to two former drivers for ride-hailing apps Uber and Lyft is an interesting one, since it means that yet another government agency has concluded that “gig economy” workers were treated like employees and should be considered as such…at least for the purpose of getting some income while they aren’t driving. [More]
U.S. Farmers Have Dumped 43 Million Gallons Of Milk So Far In 2016
By 10.12.16
Whether it’s in your coffee, cereal, dessert bowl, cheese sandwich, or straight up in a chilled glass, most Americans consume milk in some form on a pretty regular basis. But with a glut of cheap white stuff on the market, farmers have reportedly spilled some 43 million gallons of milk through just the first eight months of 2016. [More]
Airbnb’s New Legal Strategy: Compliance With Local Laws Is Not Our Problem
By 10.6.16
When you buy a bootleg T-shirt on eBay or some phony concert tickets on StubHub, those businesses aren’t responsible: the seller is. What if that principle also applied to sharing economy businesses like Airbnb? That’s what the company is experimenting with, starting in its home city of San Francisco. [More]
Woman Who Received $16K Water And Power Bill Insists There’s No Leak
By 10.5.16
It’s pretty much impossible for one person and one dog to rack up a water and power bill of $16,988.62, but that’s what the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power says one condo owner has done. While she received a shutoff warning, employees didn’t actually believe her when she called to complain about the bill she received. The DWP blames a leak on her property that may or may not actually exist. [More]
Oregon Department Of Justice Announces Investigation Of Coolest
By 9.30.16
Back in 2014, the Coolest was a Kickstarter hit that drew even more backers as it appeared on national TV. It crushed records as well as crushing ice in its built-in blender. Yet over two years later, all of the original backers still don’t have their coolers, even as the Coolest is available in brick-and-mortar retail stores and on Amazon. Now the Oregon Department of Justice is investigating the company behind the Coolest, which is based in Portland. [More]
Man Charged With Fraud, Accused Of Importing Illegal Sex Drugs
By 9.27.16
One important consumer lesson that we hope our readers take away from this site is that erectile dysfunction drugs that you find on a gas station counter are never a good idea. An Alabama man has been charged with intentionally defrauding and misleading consumers for importing a drug sold as a “male enhancement product” that contained sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra. [More]
Black Forest Ham Sold At Sam’s Club, Costco Recalled For Possible Rubber Fragments
By 9.21.16
A customer who bought a pre-cooked ham at a warehouse club noticed something chewy that wasn’t supposed to be there, and reported “various sized pieces of what appeared to be rubber material” embedded in the ham. That’s not supposed to be a thing, and the company that packed the hams, which were sold to Costco and Sam’s Club, has announced a recall. [More]
SiriusXM Subscriber Who Bought ‘Lifetime’ Subscription Files Class Action
By 9.14.16
What does a “lifetime” subscription mean? When it comes to a SiriusXM device, it means the lifetime of the device for your built-in car radio, and it can be transferable if you have a portable radio. However, a customer who bought his lifetime subscription to satellite radio service SiriusXM over the phone says that he wasn’t told that the subscription was for the lifetime of the device, and was led to belief that the subscription was for his lifetime. [More]
