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I am once again teaching Consumer Protection at the University of Alabama School of Law as an adjunct professor. The students are about equally divided between 2Ls and 3Ls; and, about one-half are natives to Alabama while the other half come from all over the United States.  That is certainly a testament to the nation-wide respect enjoyed by the University’s Law School.

In teaching the course, I am reminded how much of “consumer protection” in the year 2020 is really consumer financial protection.  Interestingly, until the last 50 years, consumer protection was largely limited to federal and state laws and regulations addressing dangerous products; and the evolution of the law to allow for remedies for personal injuries suffered by consumers for faulty products.

Consumer protection since the 1970s has been about protection for consumers in their everyday lives—that is, buying homes, consumer goods, and consumer services, or borrowing for the same. The growth in laws and regulations has been nothing short of phenomenal.

We know that life in the 21st Century has become faster paced than ever before. The potential for harm to consumers has moved as fast as the pace of our lives.   Think of the harm that can come from identity theft—and how fast that harm can be visited on us.  Think about how an unfair, deceptive or abusive act or practice committed by a merchant or a bank or a mortgage company in advertising can impact hundreds or thousands of consumers instantaneously.  The 2008 Great Recession is a textbook example of how abuse of consumers in the residential real estate world—particularly sub-prime financing—tanked our economy.  (Of course, consumer greed had a hand in it too!)  However you look at it, it took years for our economy to recover.

Teaching Consumer Protection in 2020 gives me the opportunity to think about and consider the nature of the many laws and regulations that I write about for you each week. They are not just words on paper. They are words that describe concepts and ideas that have been put in place to protect us as consumers—all of us.

As creditor’s counsel, I get as concerned as my clients about over-regulation.  It is a balancing act. The pendulum seems to constantly swing between over-regulation and caveat emptor.   But, our legislators, representatives, and regulators seem to eventually get it right.

It remains not only my job, but our job, to urge compliance with the many laws and regulations that safeguard our daily lives.  I often say that consumer credit is the fuel that drives the American economy. I know that to be factually correct.   And, I know that we all benefit when consumer credit is offered, extended, and ultimately collected fairly.