United States: Consumer Law

An Ohio district court granted a motion for reconsideration six years after the Supreme Court's landmark Facebook v. Duguid decision, reversing a previous TCPA violation ruling.

Delaware recently updated its personal data privacy law with House Bill 380. The amendments go into effect January 1, 2027. Key modifications to the existing Delaware privacy law include the following...

Affordability remains front and center at the FTC. This month, the agency turned its attention to healthcare and gas costs. It also issued detailed guidance on price transparency for auto dealers that marketers in any industry might want to heed: the advertised price “must be the actual price that any consumer can walk in and pay,” with only government fees excluded. The FTC continues to consider how to combat scams and is seeking public comment on whether online platforms should help stop scammers who use those platforms to impersonate third parties by, for example, requiring the removal of confirmed impersonation scam ads.

The Federal Trade Commission has reached settlements with payment processors Nuvei and Humboldt Merchant Services, requiring them to pay millions in consumer redress for facilitating fraudulent transactions. The enforcement actions highlight the FTC's strategy of targeting payment intermediaries that enable tech support scams, unauthorized billing schemes, and other consumer fraud operations to access credit card networks.

The FTC's enforcement actions against digital businesses reveal critical compliance gaps in how companies handle fees, subscriptions, and user representations. Drawing from settlements requiring tens of millions in penalties, this analysis examines five categories of problematic conduct and provides a framework for strengthening compliance programs to prevent unfair and deceptive practices.

State attorneys general across the nation continue to take significant enforcement actions addressing consumer protection violations, deceptive business practices, and federal regulatory overreach. Recent multistate coalitions have secured major settlements with subprime auto lenders and multi-level marketing companies while challenging federal policies that threaten state sovereignty and consumer rights.

The House Financial Services Committee has approved H.R. 10184, legislation that would fundamentally restructure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding, supervisory authority, and enforcement powers. The proposed reforms would subject the agency to Congressional appropriations, raise bank supervision thresholds from $10 billion to $30 billion in assets, and impose new oversight requirements on CFPB rulemaking.

Guardian Bikes faced scrutiny from the National Advertising Division over its "40% OFF" claims and countdown timers, raising questions about whether consumers might interpret everyday competitive pricing as temporary discounts. The case highlights growing regulatory attention to how companies communicate sales and limited-time offers, with implications for marketers using similar promotional tactics.

A federal court recently determined that a car dealership's seemingly innocuous text message asking "May I communicate with you via text?" could constitute illegal marketing under the TCPA when viewed in context. The ruling highlights how the purpose and context of a message—rather than its literal content—determines whether it violates telemarketing restrictions, particularly when messages serve a dual purpose of engaging consumers for potential sales.