Table of Contents

Call for a CFPB rulemaking on forced arbitration
More than a hundred organizations signed on to a letter to CFPB Director Rohit Chopra supporting a recently submitted petition for rulemaking to require meaningful consumer consent to arbitration.

Another call for agencies to protect disaster victims from negative credit reporting
Groups again urged government agencies to help protect the credit reports and scores of consumers impacted by natural disasters, who may unavoidably miss bill payments in the aftermath of the devastation.

CLASS Act would give students defrauded by for-profit colleges their day in court
Advocates supported members of Congress who proposed the Court Legal Access and Student Support (CLASS) Act, legislation that would prohibit a school from receiving federal student aid if it requires mandatory arbitration or otherwise restricts students’ ability to pursue claims against the school in court.

Strong support for HUD proposal to retain servicer/borrower meeting requirement to prevent FHA loan foreclosures
Dozens of housing, legal and consumer advocates wrote in support of HUD’s proposal to maintain the requirement for loan servicers to have a meeting with FHA-insured mortgage borrowers in default in an effort to help them avoid foreclosure.

Call for appropriations bills without poison pill policy riders
Democratic lawmakers, supported by a range of organizations, called on Appropriations Committee leadership to advance responsible appropriations legislation free of poison pill provisions and adequately fund non-defense discretionary programs at the caps agreed to in the bipartisan debt ceiling package.

Opposition to amendments that would strip agencies’ powers to protect consumers
In a letter to Senators Murray and Collins, allies strongly opposed any amendments to the Fiscal Year 2024 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act that include provisions that would thwart necessary rulemaking to protect consumers.

Credit Card Competition Act would break up Visa-Mastercard duopoly
Advocates urged members of Congress to swiftly pass the Credit Card Competition Act in an effort to address the Visa-Mastercard duopoly in the U.S., which has resulted in the highest credit card swipe fees in the industrialized world.

Bank CEOs are urged to make good on promises to close racial wealth disparities
A hundred advocacy groups submitted letters to more than 40 bank CEOs urging them to make good on comments made to close racial wealth disparities and invest in traditionally underserved communities following the widespread racial justice protests of 2020.

Call for an AI Bill of Rights
A range of advocacy groups joined in a letter calling upon the Biden-Harris administration to make the White House Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights binding U.S. government policy for the federal government’s use of AI systems.

Big Pharma and industry groups should drop lawsuits attempting to block drug price negotiation
More than 70 organizations demanded that Big Pharma executives and industry groups end their resistance to drug price negotiation under the Inflation Reduction Act.