House of Representatives Passed HR 1423, the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act, in a 225-186 vote

For Immediate Release: September 20, 2019

Contact: Carter Dougherty or carter@ourfinancialsecurity.org

Washington, DC – Today, the House of Representatives passed the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act in a 225-186 vote. The FAIR Act prohibits companies from forcing harmed consumers, workers, and small businesses into the secret arbitration process to resolve disputes. It protects their ability to seek relief through the courts when companies have harmed them and restores the ability of harmed individuals to join together in class actions to hold companies accountable for their wrongdoing.

Forced arbitration clauses buried in the fine print of take-it-or-leave-it contracts may be the single most important tool that predatory banks, payday lenders, credit card companies and other financial institutions have used to escape accountability for cheating and defrauding consumers. Financial companies regularly force consumers into arbitration by requiring consumers to accept it as a non-negotiable condition to get access to financial services, including bank accounts, credit cards and student loans.

“Abusive business practices flourish when big banks escape the consequences of their actions by blocking access to the courthouse.” said Linda Jun, senior policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform. “The FAIR Act will restore people’s right to take Wall Street banks, payday lenders, and other bad actors to court if they rip people off.”

The entirety of AFR’s comment on this legislation can be found here. 

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