Briefs and Comments

Victory! Court Upholds California Regulations Protecting Small Businesses from Predatory Lending

December 13, 2023

Last week, a federal court in Los Angeles upheld regulations promulgated by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) that require sales-based financing providers to disclose their products' APR and other costs to borrowers, typically small businesses and micro-entrepreneurs. The Center, along with our co-counsel Public Counsel and fellow amici California Association for Microenterprise Opportunity (CAMEO), Responsible Business Lending...

Center Files Amicus Brief Supporting Price Transparency in Small Business Lending

October 10, 2023

The Center, along with our co-counsel Public Counsel, California Association for Microenterprise Opportunity, the Responsible Business Lending Coalition, and the Office of Kat Taylor, filed an amicus brief in the Central District of California in support of a California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) regulation requiring sales-based financing providers to disclose their APRs and...

Center Files Amicus Brief Supporting Greater Access to Justice for Consumers Facing Debt Collection Judgments

July 24, 2023

Last week, the Center, along with our co-counsel Bay Area Legal Aid and OneJustice and ten other legal services organizations, filed an amicus brief urging the California Supreme Court to ensure that consumers with debt collection lawsuits can have their day in court when they...

Supreme Court Considers Whether Consumers Can Sue The Federal Government for Credit Reporting Violations

November 6, 2023

Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in USDA Rural Development Rural Housing Service v. Kirtz, a case that will decide whether the federal government can claim sovereign immunity as a defense against lawsuits brought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The Berkeley Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice, along with the National Consumer Law Center, Public Justice, and the Housing Clinic of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization at Yale Law School, filed an...

Center Files Comment Supporting FTC Rule That Would Make Subscription Cancellation As Easy as Enrollment

July 7, 2023

Over the past several years and especially during the pandemic, companies have increasingly offered automatically renewing subscription-based services to their customers. After the initial subscription period (say, a year) for which the customer pays, the company automatically charges the customer for another term. These subscription services include an enormous range of businesses, from shopping sites like Amazon Prime, to entertainment streaming platforms like Netflix, to newspapers and apps and just about any other industry you can name.

Automatic...

Center Deplores Supreme Court Decision Halting Student Debt Cancellation

June 30, 2023

Like so many of you, the UC Berkeley Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice is dismayed by the decision from the U.S. Supreme Court striking down President Biden’s student loan debt relief plan. We join in the deep disappointment of the millions of Americans who hoped for some relief from the burden of student debt, which today eclipses $1.78 trillion dollars and has prevented millions of people from purchasing a home, launching a business, or starting a family.

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Center Files Amicus Brief Supporting Used Car Buyers’ Rights Under California’s Lemon Law

June 23, 2023

It is well established in California that the state’s Lemon Law applies to vehicles that are still under the manufacturer’s warranty, whether those cars are new or used. Or, at least, it was well established until an appellate court in Southern California upended that consensus this spring.

Last week, the Berkeley Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice, joined by nine other national...

Center Files Amicus Brief Defending the CFPB on Behalf of 90 State & Local Nonprofit Organizations

May 15, 2023

Writing on behalf of 90 state and local nonprofit organizations, the UC Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice today filed an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court arguing that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s independent funding mechanism does not violate the Appropriations Clause of...

The Supremes – and the Center – Take on Student Debt Relief

March 1, 2023

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases that will decide the fate of President Biden’s plan to cancel student debt for over 40 million Americans. The two lawsuits, Biden v. Nebraska and Department of Education v. Brown, challenge the Secretary of Education’s statutory authority to issue widespread debt relief under the 2003 Higher Education Relief Opportunities (HEROES) Act. The Center filed ...

Center Files Amicus Brief Explaining Consumers’ Ability To Recover Attorneys’ Fees In Cases Against Holders Of Credit Contracts

November 17, 2021

The Center filed an amicus brief in Pulliam v. HNL Automotive, a case before the California Supreme Court that will determine whether defrauded consumers may collect attorneys’ fees against third-party finance companies pursuant to the...