Rule

Proposed Consumer Class Action Rules Don’t Cover Everybody

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has unveiled a proposed new rule on binding arbitration, those clauses usually buried in the fine print of your credit card agreement that say you can’t sue your bank. You have to go to arbitration instead. The CFPB proposal would let consumers band together to sue in class action lawsuits.


How Companies Prohibit You From Suing Them and What the Feds Are Doing to Change It

Have you ever used a credit card? Or signed up for a phone plan? Opened a bank account? Chances are, you also agreed to never sue the company that offered you the service. A massive number of everyday services require us to agree with some kind of written contract. From more significant decisions like taking a loan, to the most trivial, like updating iTunes. The government is now …


Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Publishes Proposed Rule Precluding Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Clauses

As we reported last year, in October 2015 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published an outline of proposals that would limit the use of arbitration provisions in contracts for consumer financial products. On May 5, 2016, the CFPB followed up by releasing a proposed rule that would ban consumer financial services providers such as banks, credit card issuers, and small-dollar lenders …


New Gov’t Rule Would Give Americans More Power to Sue Banks

On Thursday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed a new rule that would ban the use of mandatory arbitration clauses, which many banks and credit card companies insert into contracts to prohibit customers from filing class-action lawsuits against them. In the event a customer sues a company outside of small-claims court, the business can enforce these clauses to block a …


Will Fiduciary Rule Spur New Lawsuits Against Advisors?

With the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule finalized, are some advisors now a target for lawsuits? Experts suggest that the threat of litigation – which exists because the rule provides clients with the right to legal action – could push some firms to change business models and spur some advisors to exit the business. “Litigation is one area where firms are particularly…