CAPS members attend Ninth Circuit oral arguments in Manriquez v. DeVos

(From left) CAPS members Franklin Munoz (far left), Samson Lim (second from left), and Oscar Sarabia Roman (far right) joined Berkeley Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice’s board chair Suzanne Martindale (center) and interim executive director Ted Mermin (second from right) at the Ninth Circuit for oral arguments.

Second-year Berkeley Law student and CAPS member Hanne Jensen has submitted a public comment on behalf of the Consumer Advocacy and Protection Society (CAPS) cautioning the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation against changing their guidance for financial institutions offering small-dollar “payday” loans. Following the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s rescission of its guidance, some banks have begun exploring offering high-interest, small-dollar loans to consumers. Considering issues involving enforcement, administrability, and the high risk of an under-regulated lending market, Jensen urges the FDIC to retain their current guidance to protect vulnerable borrowers. The public comment can be found online here: https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/federal/2018/2018-small-dollar-lending-3064-za04-c-032.pdf

First-year Berkeley Law students and CAPS members  Samson Lim and Matt Clarkston have submitted a public comment on behalf of the Consumer Advocacy and Protection Society (CAPS) opposing the U.S. Department of Education’s proposal to rescind the ‘gainful employment’ rule. Under the current rule, career education programs that repeatedly leave students with unaffordable levels of debt relative to their earnings can lose access to federal Title IV funds (i.e., federal student loans, grants, and work-study). Based on a review of recent judicial decisions, academic research, and relevant data, Lim and Clarkston argue that the Department of Education’s proposal to eliminate the rule lacks evidence-based justification and rolls back hard-earned protections for thousands of students seeking to pursue higher education. The public comment can be found online here.

Click HERE or see below for more info! Posted by Jeff Sovern at Public Citizen’s Consumer Law & Policy Blog:

We have received the following call for papers appearing below. This one looks especially exciting for consumer law scholars: it’s at an elite law school and has an impressive roster of organizers.

The Berkeley Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice, its director Ted Mermin, and co-organizers Abbye Atkinson, Kathleen Engel, Rory Van Loo, and Lauren Willis are pleased to announce the inaugural Consumer Law Scholars Conference (CLSC), which will be held the afternoon and evening of February 21 and all day February 22, 2019, in Berkeley, CA.

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CAPS recently submitted several public comments to the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on various consumer protection matters.

The FTC comments, one of which can we read here, were submitted in response to the FTC’s Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century. CAPS argued that to adequately deter unfair and deceptive business practices, Congress should grant the FTC increased rulemaking and civil penalty authority.

The CFPB comment, which can be read here, argued in opposition to several recent proposals from current CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney. For example, drawing on clinical experience at Berkeley’s Consumer Rights Workshop and East Bay Community Law Center’s Consumer Justice Clinic, CAPS argued that Mulvaney’s proposal to remove the Bureau’s publicly accessible Consumer Complaint Database would harm consumers and impede the direct legal services model.

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The Spring 2018 issue of the Berkeley Law Transcript featured an article recently about the Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice. The article features Ted Mermin, the Center’s Interim Director, and Elizabeth Cabraser, renowned litigator and founding donor for the new Center.

The California Law Review has recently published an article about the East Bay Community Law Center’s Consumer Justice Clinic. The piece was authored by CAPS faculty adviser Ted Mermin, who helped create the the Consumer Justice Clinic. The article can be accessed here: http://www.californialawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/8-Festschrift_Mermin.pdf.

The “Corporate Crime Reporter” recently featured an interview with CAPS faculty advisor Ted Mermin about Berkeley’s new Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice. You can find the article here: https://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/news/200/ted-mermin-berkeley-center-consumer-law-economic-justice/.