FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 25, 2017
Contact: Sarah Schultz, sarah.schultz@younginvincibles.org, 202-734-6510

[Washington, D.C.] – Last night, Vice President Pence cast a tie-breaking vote in the Senate to block a regulation from the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. The regulation preserved the option for consumers to join together to bring class action lawsuits against banks and credit card companies and required greater transparency by those companies in individual arbitration cases. The 51-50 vote will send the repeal resolution to President Trump’s desk, where he is expected to sign it into law.

Young Invincibles’ Government Affairs Director, Reid Setzer, issued the following statement:

“Consumers who are victims of fraud must be able to seek justice and hold financial institutions accountable. Young adults are especially vulnerable since they are completely new to financial services. They should be able to count on strong protections as they work to become financially secure, not be fearful that they’ll get taken advantage of. This vote is a major loss for consumers and makes our financial system less accountable and less transparent.

We also know that banks aren’t the only institutions that rely on forced arbitration. The Department of Education recently initiated the process of rewriting the Borrower Defense to Repayment Rule. That rule protects students from fraudulent career education colleges that do the exact same thing – deceive students who have made major investments in their institutions, then prevent them from having their day in court through the use of mandatory arbitration clauses. Rolling back this protection would create another landmine for consumers, particularly young students, who often have the least means. The Department of Education should stop delaying and weakening the rule, and let it go into effect immediately.”

#  #  #