Featured Articles

Times Reports on Responses to the Subprime Crisis, Student Loan Issues, Unauthorized Bank Account Transfers, and More

Alan M. White
September 07, 2008 18:06

Bob Tedeschi's Mortgages column in today's Times, "Shying Away From N.Y. Loans," reports on a consequence of the new New York subprime law: making it even harder for subprime borrowers to obtain loans. An excerpt:Among other things, borrowers with high-cost...Bob Tedeschi's Mortgages column in...

Recent Articles

Times Reports on Credit Card Suits, Modification of Mortgages, Evictions in Chicago and More

Alan M. White
October 12, 2008 18:29

Yesterday's Times included "When Plastic Seduces, A Reckoning Awaits," about cases in the New York City Civil Court against consumers on credit cards. An excerpt:As the final stop on the subprime lending train, the Civil Court has become the 21st-century...Yesterday's Times included "When...

How Do We Know Consumers Don't Read Small Print?

Alan M. White
October 11, 2008 00:43

Everybody "knows" consumers don't read fine print. But the empirical evidence I've found to support this claim is surprisingly sparse. Here's what I've come across: From my article, "Towards a New Model of Consumer Protection: The Problem of Inflated Transaction...Everybody "knows"...

Another Case of Abusive Trademark Claims to Suppress Speech — John Dozier redux

Alan M. White
October 10, 2008 14:25

by Paul Alan Levy A few weeks ago, I nominated the law mega-firm Jones Day for an award for the most abusive trademark claim brought to suppress speech they don’t like. Today’s post concerns another abusive trademark claim that might...by Paul Alan Levy A few weeks ago, I nominated the law meg...

A Tale of Two UDRP's

Alan M. White
October 09, 2008 14:10

by Paul Alan Levy I have recently had some involvement with two proceedings under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy ("UDRP"), a procedure for deciding trademark disputes about domain names. The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN"), which controls...by Paul Alan...

Did Some ISP's Give in Too Easily to Dozier's Threats of Suit over Their Customer's Speech?

Alan M. White
October 08, 2008 15:31

by Paul Alan Levy Yesterday I commented on the efforts of John W. Dozier, Jr. to use spurious claims of trademark infringement to get a “sucks” site, www.cybertriallawyer-sucks.com, taken down, focusing on the trademark claim itself. That claim will, ultimately,...by Paul Alan Levy Yesterday I com...

The Fannie Freddie Fable

Alan M. White
October 08, 2008 13:36

At last night's debate, Senator McCain trotted out the discredited fiction that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were the root cause of the foreclosure crisis, and that they started the practice of making reckless loans to homeowners who couldn't repay...At last night's debate, Senator McCain trotted out...

Aggressive Mortgage Mods Work

Alan M. White
October 08, 2008 13:01

By Alan M. White A distressed homeowner’s chances of being offered a meaningful loan restructuring, as opposed to demands for increased payments to make up past defaults, depends a lot on which mortgage servicing company they happen to be dealing...By Alan M. White A distressed homeowner’s c...

Times Reports on Postal Savings Banks and Countrywide Settlement

Alan M. White
October 07, 2008 01:39

Today's Times has an interesting op-ed piece, "Mailing Our Way to Solvency," about the use of postal savings bank, which existed in this country until 1966 and still exist in some other countries. The author suggests that postal savings banks...Today's Times has an interesting op-ed piece,...

An Off-Topic Comment

Alan M. White
October 07, 2008 01:23

While I generally confine my remarks on this Blog to consumer law issues, every once in a while I write about something which is at best tangentially related to consumer law. This is one of those comments. If that bothers...While I generally confine my remarks on this Blog to consumer law issues,...