Course Catalog
Consumer Protection Seminar / Course (3)
CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW SEMINAR, FALL 2010
Consumer Protection laws deal with legislatively defined unfair and deceptive trade practices which harm consumers, and which infringe on the business of honest merchants. This course studies the harms caused to consumers and the economy by unscrupulous business practices.
The course involves considerable exposure to techniques of statutory interpretation in construing such laws as the Truth-in-Lending Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Consumer Protection Act, Consumer Warranty Law and other issues such as usury and fraud. The course also addresses the question of whether any of these laws matter if consumers cannot understand them, and the legal system does not enforce them.
Using a mixture of statutes, case law, policy statements and real live litigation files, specific industries and problems addressed may include: the Consumer Financial Protection Agency; automobile sales, financing and repossession; foreclosure fraud; subprime lending; forced arbitration; federal preemption of state consumer protection laws; attorney fee shifting in consumer cases; different theories and measures of damages in consumer protection cases.
In years past we have taken one field trip during the semester.
Students signed up for the Consumer Law Clinic (Fall or Spring) are encouraged, but not required, to take this course.
Current & Previous Instructors:
| This course is not currently scheduled. |
Key to Codes in Course Descriptions
P: PrerequisiteC: Prerequisite or Concurrent Requirement
R: Recommended Prior or Concurrent Course
More on the Curriculum
UM | About This Site | Site Map | Contact Us
