Berkeley’s Consumer Advocacy and Protection Society (CAPS) has recently submitted public comments to the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on several important consumer protection topics.
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 Congress should grant the FTC increased rulemaking and civil penalty authority to deter unfair and deceptive business practices.
CAPS submitted the CFPB comment to oppose 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 Databasewould harm consumers and impede the direct legal services model.