PrivacyRSS

  • June 22, 2012

    Mass. High Court OKs Foreclosures Without Mortgage Notes

    The Massachusetts Supreme Court on Friday found that lenders can foreclose on homeowners in the state even without possession of a mortgage note, overturning a lower court decision and allowing banks and other mortgage holders to breath a collective sigh of relief.

  • June 22, 2012

    New AG Head's Focus On Privacy May Spur State Enforcement

    Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler has chosen to make protecting online privacy the focus of his one-year term as president of the National Association of Attorneys General that began Thursday, a move attorneys say will likely spur other state enforcers to work collectively and individually to more aggressively police Internet users' rights.

  • June 22, 2012

    Verizon Avoids Hidden-Fee Claims Over TV Protection Plan

    A New Jersey federal judge on Friday dismissed a putative class action against Verizon Communications Inc. that accused the telecom giant of charging hidden fees in connection with its television protection plan, finding no evidence of fraud or misrepresentation by the company.

  • June 22, 2012

    GCs Name Rolls Royce Of Law Firms

    A new report based on interviews with corporate counsel has identified the eighteen law firms with the strongest brands in the legal market.

  • June 22, 2012

    FDA Hit With FOIA Suit Seeking Livestock Antibiotics Data

    The Natural Resources Defense Council on Monday demanded that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration turn over findings on the health risks of antibiotics used in livestock production, claiming in a lawsuit that the agency violated the Freedom of Information Act in withholding the data.

  • June 22, 2012

    Facebook Joins Calif. Pact Governing App Privacy Policies

    Facebook Inc. has agreed to follow the California privacy policy standards set out in an agreement signed earlier this year by Google Inc., Apple Inc. and others, extending that agreement's coverage to social media applications, the state's attorney general announced on Friday.

  • June 22, 2012

    Calif. High Court Says Convenience Check Suit Preempted

    The California Supreme Court on Thursday stopped a putative class action against a Bank of America NA affiliate over its “convenience checks,” holding that the consumer claims over inadequate disclosures were preempted by the National Bank Act and reversing a state appeals court decision.

  • June 22, 2012

    Expedia, Booking.com Must Make Hotel Deals Clearer: Group

    An advertising industry self-regulating group found Thursday that Booking.com BV and Expedia Inc. used calculations that could have exaggerated how many hotel rooms were offered at certain prices, recommending the sites monitor room availability and disclose restrictions.

  • June 22, 2012

    Google Ad Suit Heads To Australia's High Court

    Australia's highest court agreed Friday to hear Google Inc.'s appeal of a lower court's finding that the search giant misled consumers by allowing companies to post search result advertisements that lured customers by using a rival's name in the headline.

  • June 21, 2012

    Facebook Deal Over 'Like' Ads Nets Attorneys $10M

    A Facebook Inc. settlement made public earlier this week in a class action alleging the social network uses people's pictures in ads without their permission includes $10 million for attorney fees, bringing the total amount to more than $20 million, a Wednesday court filing showed.

  • June 21, 2012

    NY Legislature Wraps Without Wage Hike, Fracking Bills

    New York lawmakers ended their 235th legislative session Thursday without passing a minimum wage hike, curbs on hydraulic fracturing, stronger penalties for mortgage fraudsters or measures to keep gas stations from gouging motorists, but an on-time budget and other successes left legislative leaders breathing sighs of relief.

  • June 21, 2012

    NY Assembly Passes Bill To Criminalize Robosigning

    The New York State Assembly on Thursday passed legislation to define residential foreclosure fraud and impose harsh new criminal penalties on mortgage business agents and employees who engage in robosigning and other practices derided as dishonest.

  • June 21, 2012

    FTC Knocks Microsoft Tracking Move As Industry Crafts Rules

    Federal Trade Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch on Wednesday criticized Microsoft Corp.'s plan to block online tracking by default in the next version of its Internet Explorer, putting pressure on an industry working group to craft a do-not-track standard that requires websites to honor consumers' choices, not choose for them, experts said.

  • June 21, 2012

    Hugo Boss Faces Suit Over Credit Card Receipt Info

    Hugo Boss USA Inc. on Thursday was hit with a class action in California federal court alleging the clothing retailer violates federal consumer protection law by failing to remove sensitive payment card information from its shoppers’ receipts.

  • June 21, 2012

    Del. Lawmaker Latest To Float Geolocation Privacy Bill

    A Delaware lawmaker on Tuesday unveiled legislation that would prohibit police from searching the contents of cell phones or electronically tracking a suspect’s location without a warrant, joining several federal and state efforts to curb this surveillance.

  • June 21, 2012

    Feds Issue Mortgage Guidance For Military Homeowners

    Addressing concerns over what they describe as abusive lending practices, federal financial regulators on Thursday released new guidelines for mortgage issuers outlining best practices when dealing with military homeowners who are suddenly ordered to relocate.

  • June 21, 2012

    Texas Bank Takes Politically Charged CFPB Fight To Court

    A small Texas bank on Thursday filed the first of what was expected to be a wave of lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but supporters of the fledgling agency called the suit an attempt to bring the political fight over its creation into the court system.

  • June 21, 2012

    Banks Could Pay Big For Foreclosure Errors

    Banks could be forced to rescind foreclosures or pay more than $125,000 each to homeowners who suffered financial injury as a result of foreclosure errors, with no cap on the total payout, under guidelines released Thursday by the U.S. Comptroller of Currency and the Federal Reserve Board.

  • June 21, 2012

    Casey Urges CFPB To Standardize Bank Account Disclosures

    Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday to push banks to adopt standardized, one-page forms to disclose the terms and conditions of consumer accounts, saying current agreements are needlessly long and opaque.

  • June 21, 2012

    Lawmakers Press Accretive Over New Billing Allegations

    Medical billing company Accretive Health Inc. found itself under renewed political pressure Thursday as two Democratic lawmakers, reacting to fresh allegations of patient privacy and debt collection law violations from Minnesota’s attorney general, accused the company of stonewalling their demands for internal documents.