Consumer Law

Does Anybody Read Disclosures?

By Jeff Sovern

by Jeff Sovern

More and more anecdotal information is surfacing to supplement the empirical data indicating that consumers don't read disclosures.  According to Above the Law and Josh Blackman's blog, 7th Circuit Judge and former Chicago Law Professor Easterbrook stated at a Federalist Society event that he didn't read the RESPA disclosures when he recently bought a home.  His colleague at both Chicago and the court, Judge Posner, has been quoted to similar effect.  All this raises a number of questions, including: do disclosures serve any societal purpose at all?  If leading judges don't read them, is it fair to say that the reasonable person doesn't read them either?  Should we replace disclosures with something that actually provides consumer protection?  Does the so-called duty to read make sense when we know that people don't read?  (Hat tip: Dee Pridgen and her student, John Alexander Brodie)

Full post as published by CL&P Blog on December 06, 2010 (boomark / email).