Consumer Right to Take Financial Bad Actors to Court is Restored
The Consumer Bureau Scrapped the Ban on Class Actions in Mandatory Arbitration Clauses.
On Monday, July 10, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized an important rule to prevent financial firms from using mandatory arbitration clauses to deny consumers the right to have their day in court. The small-print in these contracts made it nearly impossible for consumers without the financial resources to take on big banks by preventing class action lawsuits. Fair Share’s Phoenix Trent said of the rule:
“We commend the Consumer Bureau for restoring class action rights to financial customers. We know that this rule will help hold financial bad actors accountable for breaking the law. This new rule will help to protect and defend servicemembers, veterans and other vulnerable populations who were previously tricked into unfair forced arbitration practices which are designed to favor Wall Street over working Americans.”
“We can’t afford another Great Recession, which is why Fair Share supports the Consumer Bureau. This is exactly why the banks spend so much lobbying to defeat the CFPB -- they give regular people real tools to take on the banks, and address dishonesty in the financial system.”
More about our work to Keep Wall Street in Check:
Predatory lenders and other unsavory banking institutions must be held accountable. We cannot stand idly by while big Wall Street Banks rip off the American people and force millions into vicious cycles of debt. The Consumer Bureau is top cop on the beat working to police wall street and arm the American people with the resources they need to stand up to predatory lending and other unfair banking practices. Unfortunately, the Trump administration and many Senate Republicans are working to restructure and even disband the Consumer Bureau which would make it more difficult to hold financial bad actors accountable. We cannot allow the next round of financial wrongdoing to take place and we must take action in order to ensure that the American people are not cheated out of their hard earned money.
Fair Share is currently working to build a broad coalition of organizations, grassroots leaders, faith leaders, and elected officials to support consumer protection in Nebraska and defend the Consumer Bureau. The coalition currently includes:
- Americans for Financial Reform
- Nebraska Appleseed
- State Senator Tony Vargas
- Nebraska Voices for Children
- Nebraska Habitat for Humanity
- Womens Fund of Omaha
- Heartland Works Center
- Nebraska Catholic Charities
- Strong Nebraska
- Nebraska AARP
- Legal Aid of Nebraska
- Omaha Together One Community
- Nebraska Democrats
- Hispanic Students Associate, University of Nebraska
- Creighton College Democrats
Keep the public informed:
We are building support for the Consumer Bureau by getting the word out about all the good work they do to defend hard working Americans from the threat of predatory lending and other unfair banking practices. Since January we’ve had 21 letters printed in 12 newspapers ranging from rural media outlets to outlets in major metropolitan cities. These letters are impactful because we encourage readers to stand up for consumer protection and let their Senator know just how important it is to defend the Consumer Bureau and help prevent the next round of financial wrong-doing. These letters have been submitted to newspapers in Montana, Indiana, Virginia, North Dakota, West Virginia, Nebraska, and Florida with the hope of garnering the support of moderate Democratic Senators in those states. In addition to LTE coverage, CBS and NBC news reported on our consumer protection Town Hall in Charlottesville, which we hosted in collaboration with the Consumer Bureau and Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring’s office. This town hall provided Virginians with financial literacy tools and the resources they need to stand up to predatory lending and other unfair banking practices.
Get involved:
Join our photo petition today to stand with the Consumer Bureau as we work to preserve essential consumer protections. These petitions will be delivered to US Senators in target states to express broad support for this essential consumer protection watchdog and its Director, Richard Corday.
Please follow this following link to submit your photo petition and express your support for the Consumer Bureau: https://goo.gl/5VPsOT