Re: Arbitration

Posted by cddfisher (205.188.209.144) on October 17, 2003 at 01:35:31:

In Reply to: Re: Arbitration posted by Sean on October 16, 2003 at 13:23:53:

This is all wrong advice. Most creditors have mailed amended terms and conditions which contain a requirement you arbitrate. (it was done to avoid class actions in certain circumstances). If you wanted to "opt out" of arbitration you had to write within a certain period of time to the creditor. If you did so, the creditor would cancel your account for further purchases or advances but you would pay the balance under the old terms and conditions. Assuming you never opted out, and it seems you did not, you cannot now reject the arbitration. If you have been served you must answer or a default arbitration award will be entered. After that, the creditor can bring a legal action to confirm the award (they sue on the award and it registers as a judgment) in you jurisdiction. At that time the creditor can enforce it like any other judgment. If you fail to respond in the arbitration or respond but fail to raise any issue as to why the claim is invalid, then when they sue you to confirm the award you cannot dispute the subject of the claim but only whether the arbitrator acted wrongfully in some manner in entering the arb award. I would suggest you seek counsel in your area for specific potential defenses, if any, to the claim.

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