Bills aim to get consumers their day in court
Just a few years ago, Congress, then controlled by Republicans, made it a priority to limit litigation against businesses, expressing concerns about the costly burden it imposed. Now, with Democrats in charge, legislation is advancing that could lead to more court fights between consumers and businesses.

Business Fights for the Tilted Arbitration Field: Susan Antilla
At a hearing in Washington yesterday, consumer advocate Richard M. Alderman sat before a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary committee and quoted from a grade school textbook: The legislative branch makes the laws, the executive branch carries them out, and the judicial branch explains what they mean.

Mandatory Binding Arbitration Means Alleged Halliburton Rapists Could Go Free
A woman who filed a civil lawsuit against Halliburton for being the victim of a gang rape by her coworkers in Iraq will have her day in court, kangaroo court, thanks to the mandatory binding arbitration clause in her employment contract. Jamie Leigh Jones says she was drugged and raped by her fellow workers, then imprisoned inside a shipping container and left without food or water until the US embassy came to rescue after the State Department got calls from her father. She says she was told she would be fired if she sought medical treatment.

The Quest for a Car, Sans Arbitration Clause
The car salesman warned us that we wouldn’t be able to buy a car anywhere without signing a contract containing this arbitration clause, as it’s known. Even so, we were indignant and vowed to shop on Craigslist... I contacted a half-dozen car dealerships in the Washington, D.C. area and asked them in advance if their contracts included an arbitration clause, and if so, if they'd take it out. All the dealers used the clause, and none would remove it...The bank agreement was worse than the sales contract we'd walked away from a month earlier at the dealership.

PIABA Supports Feingold Johnson Proposal to Ban Mandatory Arbitration
Laurence S. Schultz, President of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, presented PIABA's statement yesterday to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, in support of The Arbitration Fairness Act of 2007...Schultz said that PIABA strongly supports a ban on mandatory arbitration and challenged American industry's efforts to enforce mandatory arbitration and deny the public access to the court system. "Under our Constitution there are three branches of government -- legislative, executive and judicial-- and corporate America is in the process of effectively eliminating the judicial branch of our government for American consumers by denying them their Constitutional right to use the court system. Entire industries in this country are forcing consumers out of court and into mandatory arbitration as a condition of buying basic goods and services."

Mandatory Arbitration Stacks Deck Against Credit Cardholders, Data Show
In the report, Public Citizen pulls back the curtain to reveal the cozy and dangerous relationship between credit card companies and the private arbitration firms that decide their binding mandatory arbitration cases. The result of an eight-month investigation, the report provides, for the first time, a comprehensive analysis of data on nearly 34,000 arbitration cases...The report focuses on the National Arbitration Forum (NAF), the go-to arbitration forum for the credit card industry and a major player in the California arbitration business. Between Jan. 1, 2003, and March 31, 2007, arbitrators working for the Minneapolis-based NAF ruled for businesses in 94 percent of the California cases examined. In fact, 90 percent of the NAF cases were handled by just 28 arbitrators, who awarded businesses $185 million.

National Arbitration Forum Decides 61 Year Identity Theft Victim Owes $46,000 Yahoo! Finance has a horrible story about a 61 year old lady living on $759 a month Social Security whose credit card was stolen and it ended up with the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) deciding she owed them $46,000.When she received notice of pending arbitration against her, it had no claim attached to it. She didn't even know who was suing her. She sent a letter asking for the case to be dismissed or to be served with an actual claim. She didn't hear from them again until NAF told her they had ruled against her for $46,000. They didn't even respond to her motion.Takeaway: Scan your monthly credit card statements for any charges you don't remember making and report them as soon as possible. Also, arbitration by companies against consumers is evil. Support the Arbitration Fairness Act. Stacking the Deck Against Consumers. Read More on the horrors of Binding Arbitration...

Stacking the Deck Against Consumers
"I said I wanted to see the signatures -- who had signed for these purchases? And they wouldn't give me that," says Lieber. "They said, 'You're responsible, this is your credit card.' I ignored them because I thought they were nuts." Lieber sent a letter demanding the agency cease contact -- which debt collectors must do under a 1996 federal law. But they continued to harass her and her spouse, Theodore, who was confined to a wheelchair following a stroke. Frightened by a menacing phone call, Theodore sent a payment to the collection agency...Lieber heard nothing until another notice arrived, stating that MBNA had won a $46,000 judgment against her in arbitration. "Lieber never even had the opportunity to see what the claim was against her, or put in a defense," says Wilner. "They ruled against her without responding to her motion."

Credit Card Arbitration
On Nov. 15, 2001, a New Hampshire man named Troy T. Cornock received a surprising letter from something called "National Arbitration Forum." Seems this organization claimed he owed money on an MBNA credit card. The credit card company could produce no proof Cornock had opened the account or made any charges. Not to worry. The National Arbitration Forum ruled against the customer anyway, and awarded MBNA $9,446.85...is just one of literally thousands of instances in which the credit card industry has flushed the Constitution--and the requirement for due process of law--down the commode.

Scottsdale couple battle developer over wall
A major Arizona homebuilder stands accused of attempting to financially bleed a north Scottsdale couple into submission in a decade-long legal dispute over a defective retaining wall. It took nearly 10 years before an arbitrator found that Shea Homes owed Quent and Nolya Augspurger $164,000 for damages, legal fees and court costs — a judgment that a Maricopa County Superior Court judge reaffirmed late last month....In 2003, the couple filed for arbitration just before their ability to do so expired. The arbitration process ended up taking four years.  “It’s supposed to be a quick and easy, economical way of settling disputes,” Quent Augspurger said. “I think they try to wear the homeowner down and make it so difficult for them that they give up.” Nolya Augspurger characterized the developer’s attitude as, “Don’t mess with us big boys.