Contact: Linda Sherry (202) 544-3088

Members of both the U.S. House and Senate took a hatchet to consumer protection today by introducing Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions to repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) recent arbitration rule.

The rule restores consumers’ right to band together to hold banks and lenders, like Wells Fargo, accountable in court when they break the law.

“The CFPB has stood up for consumers and put a stop to financial contracts that block consumers’ access to class action lawsuits and force them into secret, rigged arbitration proceedings,” said Linda Sherry, Consumer Action’s director of national priorities. “Class actions are a critical tool that give consumers a fighting chance.”

Congressional efforts to derail consumers’ right to their day in court through CRA come on the heels of a new poll showing that two out of three voters support consumers' right to curb predatory practices through class action lawsuit relief.

Just last week, Consumer Action joined with 310 consumer, civil rights, labor and community groups to strongly support the CFPB’s moderate and reasonable arbitration rule.