ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is slated to address a federal agency tasked with protecting consumers from predatory lenders.
The Democrat is scheduled Thursday to speak to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Albuquerque about proposed rules that would ban lenders from using "free pass" arbitration clauses to block consumers from filing class action lawsuits.
Balderas is expected to say those clauses especially hurt poor and minority residents in New Mexico.
Buried in many contracts for consumer financial products like credit cards and bank accounts, most arbitration clauses deny consumers the right to participate in group lawsuits against companies.