The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would prohibit financial companies from using certain terms in consumer finance contracts that require consumers to give up legal rights or that suppress speech as a condition of accessing financial services. The proposal would bar contract provisions that seek to sidestep federal or state statutes, including protections for servicemembers and laws addressing elder fraud and corporate misconduct. It would also prohibit terms that allow firms to fine, sue, or deplatform consumers based on comments, reviews, or political or religious views, restrict unilateral amendments to key contract terms, and codify prohibitions on “confessions of judgment” and other mechanisms that take a consumer’s property without judicial due process or oversight. The CFPB notes that while many such terms may already be unenforceable in some circumstances, the rule would create a bright-line prohibition and heightened accountability, including by giving state Attorneys General authority to enforce the prohibitions against national banks. Comments are due by April 1, 2025.

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