One major group directly affected by the Wells Fargo scandal- the customers who had fraudulent accounts opened in their names – may have their hands tied. As lawmakers pointed out at congressional …
A class-action lawsuit filed against Wells Fargo last week might be hamstrung at the starting line, legal experts say. Customers who had bank or credit card accounts opened in their name without their knowledge face an uphill battle even getting a court to hear their case because of mandatory arbitration contract clauses that protect banks from class-action suits, consumer advocates say. John …
The leaders of a Congressional subcommittee are urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to include a safe harbor provision in its final set of rules prohibiting arbitration clauses that prevent class action lawsuits. U.S. Reps. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer …
The recent settlements in the California Uber litigation demonstrate the perils of mandatory arbitration for our entire framework for regulating employment. Unfortunately, media coverage of the Uber controversies has not highlighted the damage that arbitration agreements have wrought to the individual workers involved and to our employment laws generally. But it is now more clear than ever that …
Banks keep saying over and over that arbitration proceedings, as opposed to class-action lawsuits, are the best way for consumers to handle disputes. Yet faced with the prospect of no longer being able to deny consumers the right to sue them, the banking industry is expected to take the deliciously ironic step of suing the federal government. At issue is a proposed rule from the Consumer …
A new federal rule that would give bank customers greater ability to participate in class-action lawsuits drew criticism from the industry, but local community banks aren’t much worried. Small bank officials say their scale and more folksy approach keeps them out of court more effectively than crimping the rights of their customers in small print. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants …
If government–or at least government regulators, apparatchiks and other place-holders–get their way, it’s going to be a lot easier to sue your bank. Just what this country needs. …
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking comment on a new proposed regulation that would prohibit mandatory arbitration clauses that deny groups of consumers their day in court, putting into motion discussions that started toward the end of last year. Arbitration clauses generally require that if there’s a dispute, parties must first try to resolve the issue through an arbitration …
New rules proposed on Thursday by a U.S. consumer watchdog would block credit card companies, banks and other firms from forcing customers to waive their rights to join class action lawsuits and settle disputes only through arbitration. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said financial firms should be barred from using fine print in contracts that mandates arbitration instead …
If government regulators get their way, it’s going to become a lot easier to sue your bank. By and large, U.S. bank customers have signed away their right to sue their bank in court, often without being aware of it. Buried in the fine print of credit card agreements, bank accounts and insurance policies are what are known as binding, or mandatory, arbitration …