Washington, D.C., May 4, 2017 – In response to the House Financial Services Committee’s passage of HR 10, a bill that would among other things strip the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Securities and Exchange Commission of authority to restrict forced arbitration, Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron issued the following statement:
“This bill, cynically and misleadingly named the ‘CHOICE’ Act, would continue to strip away everyday Americans’ access to justice. It would cause more people to submit to forced arbitration, an abusive system that favors big corporations at the expense of consumers, who are prohibited from going to court if they are harmed by a business. Many consumers don’t even realize they must submit to forced arbitration until it’s too late, because the requirement is hidden in the ‘fine print’ of the sales agreements and contracts they sign. We call on the full House to stop this measure in its tracks and protect consumers from further abuses perpetrated by forced arbitration.”