Two senators have introduced a bill aimed at preserving the rights of military service members to go to court, the New York Times reported on Saturday. The measure would allow service members to opt out of arbitration and challenge repossessions or foreclosures with a lawsuit. “Often service members sign contracts that include arbitration clauses buried in the fine print, and this eliminates their access to the courts, which can limit their ability to assert their rights and reach a fair resolution,” said one of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.). Reed and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced the bill on Thursday. The bill faces an uphill battle: A similar measure never made it out of committee last year after lobbying by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Wall Street’s major trade group, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, according to federal records. Read more.
Read more about financial protections for U.S. servicemembers with ABI’s Bankruptcy and Debt under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.
