| Volume 132 Number 1 |
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Beware of the ‘Can You Hear Me?’ Robocall Scam
The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Beware of the ‘Can You Hear Me?’ Robocall Scam. Authorities are warning of a new and devious scam involving criminals who call and ask, “Can you hear me?" If you say "yes," the system records your response and uses it to make it sound like you agreed to their service. Here are tips for fighting this and other robocalls. Click here for more.
CFPB Orders Prospect Mortgage to Pay $3.5 Million Fine for Illegal Kickback Scheme
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took action Tuesday against Prospect Mortgage, LLC, a major mortgage lender, for paying illegal kickbacks for mortgage business referrals. The CFPB also took action against two real estate brokers and a mortgage servicer that took illegal kickbacks from Prospect. Under the terms of the action announced today, Prospect will pay a $3.5 million civil penalty for its illegal conduct, and the real estate brokers and servicer will pay a combined $495,000 in consumer relief, repayment of ill-gotten gains, and penalties.
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Your Money
Walmart vs. Amazon Prime: Breaking Down the Best Free Shipping Deals Now. On Tuesday, Walmart launched a major change to its shipping policies for online purchases, in a big move aimed at undercutting Amazon's incredibly powerful Prime service. Now, nearly all orders are eligible for free two-day shipping, with no membership required. But there is one catch: Your order must come to a pre-tax total of at least $35. However, this doesn’t mean that Walmart now has the best fast free shipping deal out there. Take a look at some of the other major options—which extend far beyond Walmart and Amazon. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Tribal entity not immune from CFPB’s investigative demand. Tribal Lending Entities challenged the district court's decision compelling them to comply with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s civil investigative demands. The Tribes argued that because the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, defines the term "State" as including Native American tribes, the Tribal Lending Entities, as arms of sovereign tribes, are not required to comply with the investigative demands. The Ninth Circuit concluded that, in the Act, which is a generally applicable law, Congress did not expressly exclude tribes from the Bureau’s enforcement authority. The court explained that, although the Act defines “State” to include Native American tribes, with States occupying limited co-regulatory roles, this wording falls far short of demonstrating that the Bureau plainly lacks jurisdiction to issue the investigative demands challenged in this case. CFPB v. Great Plains Lending, LLC No. 14-55900 (9th Cir. 2017). Click here for more.