Wells Fargo tries to kill fake account lawsuit

http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/25/investing/wells-fargo-lawsuit-forced-arbitration/

Wells Fargo (WFC) customers have opened a class action lawsuit against the bank over the opening of unauthorized accounts in their names.

But Wells Fargo is trying to derail that lawsuit. The bank on Wednesday asked the U.S. District Court in Utah, where the class action suit was filed, to force dozens of those customers to resolve their claims quietly in closed-door arbitration instead of open court.

Wells Fargo and other financial companies have frequently used this tactic to stop class action lawsuits. They point to the agreements customers sign that contains fine print requiring them to enter arbitration.

But these forced arbitration clauses are controversial because it helps hide misbehavior by companies in private mediation rather than opening it up to scrutiny in public court documents. And customers suing large corporations for small amounts of money may not be able to find lawyers willing to take on the case.