Law and legal issues

Democrats have strived to paint recent scandals at Wells Fargo and Equifax as prime examples of why a regulatory rule banning mandatory arbitration agreements should be upheld, but Republicans are not wavering in their campaign to overturn it.

The hearings before the Senate Banking Committee have high stakes for both companies, as lawmakers are expected to ask the CEOs whether they should be fired.

In order to compensate victims of the breach, Equifax is offering free credit monitoring services that include a mandatory arbitration clause, a measure Democrats were highlighting to lobby support for the CFPB's rule banning such clauses.

In a deregulatory environment, a rule that better enables consumers to bring class actions could lead to an explosion of litigation, which will affect product availability and pricing.

The Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, Fla., and two homeless assistance agencies are the surprise beneficiaries of a successful lawsuit against a notorious South Florida foreclosure attorney, who was later disbarred.

Kidder Matthews, the top commercial real estate firm on the West Coast, is being sued by a former employee who alleges its brokers engaged in a scheme to defraud property owners and that higher ups knew about it and did nothing.

Wells Fargo forced borrowers to pay millions of dollars in fees to extend interest rate locks that expired due to the bank's delays in processing mortgage applications, a lawsuit claims.

Payday lenders and arbitration supporters are claiming the CFPB has met more often with consumer groups than industry, laying the groundwork for likely lawsuits on key rules.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent a letter to 16 big banks asking them if they support a GOP effort to overturn the CFPB arbitration rule.

The financial services industry is at risk of being caught flat-footed if a legislative measure to rescind the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s rule regulating arbitration agreements fails to pass.

Staff for House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling said CFPB Director Richard Cordray is continuing to ignore subpoenas tied to the agency's work on the arbitration rule.

Democrats on the House and Senate banking committees are urging Republicans to hold hearings with Wells Fargo's top executives over its phony-accounts and force-placed insurance scandals.

Republicans need just 50 votes in the Senate to repeal the CFPB's rule banning mandatory arbitration, but some key GOP senators remain on the fence.

Four Republican senators are seen as possible defectors on a vote to repeal the CFPB's arbitration rule, while another senator may be absent, which will make the GOP's job harder.

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika said Monday that he would not interfere with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rule banning mandatory arbitration after missing a key deadline to appeal the regulation.

Republican efforts to repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's arbitration rule were dealt a significant blow Friday by another Wells Fargo scandal.

Shareholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac say a trove of documents they have obtained bolsters their case that the government lied when it decided to take all of the mortgage companies’ profits.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is likely to finalize its small-dollar rule by September ahead of Director Richard Cordray's widely expected departure.

Binh Dang, the co-founder and former president of LendingQB, is seeking a court to force MeridianLink, the loan origination system's parent company, to dissolve.

The House voted 231 to 190 on Tuesday to nullify the CFPB's rule banning mandatory arbitration clauses, but the outcome in Senate is unclear.