Another Win for Consumers in the Arbitration of Consumer Disputes
On August 13, 2009, Bank of America announced that it would be ending a requirement that consumer credit card disputes be settled through binding arbitration. This announcement followed the determination by two major arbitration forums, the American Arbitration Association and National Arbitration Forum that they would no longer accept consumer-debt-collection cases.
Bank of America also announced that the change would cover auto, recreational vehicle and marine loans as well as the credit-card disputes.
This decision is a major win for consumers. As detailed in my earlier post, arbitration is unfair to the consumers. Big companies prevail in a majority of arbitration cases, to the detriment of the consumer. Bank of America’s decision is a pivotal change in the way that consumer disputes are handled, and may greatly increase the consumer’s ability to challenge big business.
