On July 10, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a rule, which was strongly supported by the NAACP, which said that companies involved in financial services could no longer use forced arbitration (a process which banned consumers from seeking redress in court). This rule covered financial services companies such as banks (including those which offered checking accounts and other similar accounts), credit cards, and credit reporting services. The rule was scheduled to go into effect in March 2018. Sadly, on July 25, 2017, the US House of Representatives passed, by a margin of 231 yeas to 190 nays, a bill to repeal the CFPB rule. The Senate approved identical legislation on October 24, 2017, by a vote of 51 yeas to 50 nays (Vice President Pence was on hand to cast the tie-breaking vote, thus securing passage of the bill), and President Trump has said he will quickly sign the bill into law, thus repealing the anti-forced arbitration rule.
For more information about forced arbitration, and the rule, as well as for a record of how your Senators voted, please see the attached Issue Update.
