The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously sided with convicted Kansas City payday loan tycoon Scott Tucker in an appeal of a $1.3 billion penalty in a civil case brought by the Federal Trade Commission.

AMG Capital, one of Tucker’s payday loan enterprises, sought to overturn the 2016 decision of a federal judge in Nevada who agreed that Tucker and his businesses should pay $1.3 billion in restitution to borrowers who were defrauded.

The fine against Tucker and his businesses was the largest ever obtained at the time by the FTC in a litigated case. But Thursday’s decision by the high court invalidates the FTC’s fine, and its ability to seek restitution through courts in the future unless Congress gives the agency that power.

A unanimous Supreme Court has cut back the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to recover ill-gotten gains

WASHINGTON -- A unanimous Supreme Court on Thursday cut back the Federal Trade Commission's authority to recover ill-gotten gains, overturning a nearly $1.3 billion award against a professional race car driver who was convicted of cheating consumers through his payday loan businesses.

The high court's ruling takes away what the FTC has called “one of its most important and effective enforcement tools," used in recouping billions of dollars over the past decade.

Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in his opinion for the court that the provision of federal law that the FTC has relied on does not authorize the commission to seek or a federal court to order restitution or disgorgement of profits.

But Breyer noted that other parts of the Federal Trade Commission Act could be used to obtain restitution for consumers who have been cheated. “If the Commission believes that authority too cumbersome or otherwise inadequate, it is, of course, free to ask Congress to grant it further remedial authority. Indeed, the Commission has recently asked Congress for that very authority.”

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon says the post-lockdown economic boom has "absolutely" begun.

On a client webcast on Wednesday, the long-time bank CEO echoed his upbeat views on the U.S. economy that he recently outlined in his annual letter to JPMorgan shareholders in which he predicted an economic boom that "could easily run into 2023."

Pointing to the vaccine rollout, Dimon said on the webcast we are "lucky to have it" and people "should be happy to go back to work," both factors that are "critical" to a stronger economy.

Dimon, who has been vocal about raising the minimum wage, acknowledged that many have lost their jobs and are suffering from the pandemic, but he believes that the economy today is "very different" from 2009.

Late last year, commissioners in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, proposed cutting police funding in half over the next decade and redirecting the money to mental health and social services. The bill didn’t pass, but the idea alone so outraged the Georgia legislature that lawmakers decreed it would not happen on their watch.

The legislature passed a bill that would restrict similar measures in Athens or any other Georgia county or city. The bill now goes to Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, who has indicated he favors it.

State Rep. Houston Gaines, a Republican representing parts of Athens and the surrounding counties, and chief sponsor of the bill, told Fox News that he supports “local control, but when you have local governments that are out of control and they’re putting their comm

Proposal may force servicers to violate covenants of investors who bought the loan

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a proposed rule on Monday that would bar servicers from starting on foreclosures until 2022. The CFPB also proposed streamlined processes for moving homeowners out of forbearance and into loss mitigation options. However, since the announcement, several industry leaders have expressed reservations about the blanket policy.

“My concern is that the bureau is overstepping its bounds and violating in essence agreements that have already been previously made,” said Dave Stevens, chief executive officer of Mountain Lake Consulting and former CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

According to the CFPB, streamlining the process would allow servicers to get homeowners into less burdensome payments at a much quicker pace. But data shows that servicers are already serving borrowers well.

Judging by the statistics, Generation X isn’t doing too well financially. In fact, those born from 1965 to 1980 seem to be worse off in many regards than the two larger generations they’re wedged between — baby boomers and millennials.

Gen X has the highest average debt of any generation, according to credit reporting agency Experian.

Nearly half of Gen X workers report living paycheck to paycheck, according to Met Life.

Gen X is less likely than other generations to rate its financial wellness as good or excellent, according to a Bank of America report.

Consumer watchdogs have warned that it could unleash predatory loans by enabling "payday" lenders to evade state interest rate caps.

A career federal official overseeing one of Washington's most powerful bank regulatory agencies is quietly lobbying Congress to preserve a Trump-era rule that critics say is predatory, triggering a forceful rebuke from the Democratic chair of the Senate Banking Committee.

At issue in the unusual dispute between a federal agency and a senior lawmaker is the future of a rule finalized in October by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which is responsible for policing many of the nation's biggest banks.