II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3755 

To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 with respect 

to arbitration. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 3, 2022 

Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. WARNOCK, Ms. WARREN, Mr. 

MENENDEZ, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. 

MARKEY, Mr. REED, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. CASEY, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 

with respect to arbitration. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Arbitration Fairness 

5 for Consumers Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are to— 


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1 (1) prohibit predispute arbitration agreements 

2 that force arbitration of a future consumer financial 

3 product or service dispute; and 

4 (2) prohibit agreements and practices that 

5 interfere with the right of consumers to participate 

6 in a joint, class, or collective action related to a con7 sumer financial product or service dispute. 

8 SEC. 3. NO VALIDITY OR ENFORCEABILITY OF PREDISPUTE 

9 ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS OR JOINT-AC10 TION WAIVERS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of the Consumer Fi12 nancial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5531 et seq.) 

13 is amended by inserting after section 1036 (12 U.S.C. 

14 5536) the following: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 1036A. NO VALIDITY OR ENFORCEABILITY OF 

16 PREDISPUTE ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS OR 

17 JOINT-ACTION WAIVERS. 

18 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 ‘‘(1) CLASS ACTION.—The term ‘class action’ 

20 means a lawsuit in which 1 or more parties seek or 

21 obtain class treatment pursuant to rule 23 of the 

22 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or a comparable 

23 rule or provision of State law. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONSUMER DISPUTE.—The term ‘con2 sumer dispute’ means a dispute relating to a con3 sumer financial product or service between— 

4 ‘‘(A) a consumer, including a consumer 

5 who seeks certification as a class under rule 23 

6 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or a 

7 comparable rule or provision of State law; and 

8 ‘‘(B) a covered person. 

9 ‘‘(3) PREDISPUTE ARBITRATION AGREEMENT.— 

10 The term ‘predispute arbitration agreement’ means 

11 an agreement to arbitrate a consumer dispute that 

12 has not yet arisen at the time of the making of the 

13 agreement. 

14 ‘‘(4) PREDISPUTE JOINT-ACTION WAIVER.—The 

15 term ‘predispute joint-action waiver’ means an 

16 agreement, whether or not part of a predispute arbi17 tration agreement, that would prohibit, or waive the 

18 right of, one of the parties to the agreement to par19 ticipate in a joint, class, or collective action in a ju20 dicial, arbitral, administrative, or other forum, con21 cerning a consumer dispute that has not yet arisen 

22 at the time of the making of the agreement. 

23 ‘‘(b) NO VALIDITY OR ENFORCEABILITY OF

24 PREDISPUTE ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS OR JOINT-AC25 TION WAIVERS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

2 provision of law, no predispute arbitration agree3 ment or predispute joint-action waiver shall be valid 

4 or enforceable with respect to a consumer dispute. 

5 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An issue as to wheth7 er this section applies with respect to a con8 sumer dispute shall be determined under Fed9 eral law. 

10 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION.—The applicability 

11 of this section to an agreement to arbitrate and 

12 the validity and enforceability of an agreement 

13 to which this section applies shall be determined 

14 by a court, rather than an arbitrator, irrespec15 tive of— 

16 ‘‘(i) whether the party resisting arbi17 tration challenges the arbitration agree18 ment specifically or in conjunction with 

19 other terms of the contract containing the 

20 agreement; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) whether the agreement purports 

22 to delegate such determinations to an arbi23 trator.’’. 

24 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

25 The table of contents for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street ReVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Mar 05, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3755.IS S3755

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1 form and Consumer Protection Act (Public Law 111–203; 

2 124 Stat. 1376) is amended by inserting after the item 

3 relating to section 1036 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 1036A. No validity or enforceability of predispute arbitration agreements 

or joint-action waivers.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY. 

5 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 

6 shall apply with respect to any consumer dispute or claim 

7 that arises or accrues on or after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act. 

Æ 


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