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arbitration

Will the CFPB Make a Difference?

August 11, 2010

The “sweeping financial reform bill” recently enacted created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with the authority to crack down on consumer abuses in connection with things like payday loans, credit cards, and mortgages. It will also have the authority to ban some particularly egregious practices entirely. The problem with the CFPB is that it is [...]

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Mandatory Binding Arbitration Will Go Under the CFPB’s Microscope

July 26, 2010

It is a bit premature to start ringing the death knell for mandatory binding arbitration, but the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will have the authority to “prohibit or impose conditions” on arbitration clauses in financial services contracts. This is good news. Mandatory binding arbitration is one more way that corporations end-around the civil justice [...]

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Debt Collection News Roundup, Week of June 12th, 2010

July 16, 2010

This week began with a bang, in the form of the Federal Trade Commission’s report that consumer complaints about debt collection abuses have tripled. The FTC also released a report, Repairing A Broken System: Protecting Consumers in Debt Collection Litigation and Arbitration in which it criticized the one-two punch of debt collection and mandatory binding [...]

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Mandatory Binding Arbitration Makes Debt Collection Worse

July 13, 2010

If you take a bad thing—debt collection—and subtract fairness, it gets worse. The FTC sounded off on the problems with combining debt collection and forced arbitration. In fact, the FTC recommending banning arbitration on the mandatory binding arbitration of debt collection disputes: Such a ban should remain in place until the arbitration process can be [...]

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Arbitrating Arbitration

July 3, 2010

Arbitration is unfair to consumers. This is manifestly obvious to nearly everyone but the arbitration industry and the U.S. Supreme Court. In Rent-A-Center v. Jackson, The U.S. Supreme Court just ruled that arbitrators have the right to decide whether arbitration is fair or not. That is like asking a bully whether you deserve to get [...]

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Maryland Judge Dismisses “Tens of Thousands” of Mann Bracken Lawsuits

February 2, 2010

Mann Bracken, the enormous debt-collection law firm, recently closed its doors, leaving hundreds of thousands of consumers unable to resolve their debts. Since Mann Bracken sues on many of its debts, the sudden closure also left courts in confusion. One Maryland judge decided to take drastic measures. According to The Baltimore Sun, he dismissed “tens [...]

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Is Mann Bracken Out of Business?

December 22, 2009

I got the word a few days ago that gigantic debt collection law firm Mann Bracken was going under. Atlanta consumer lawyer Tim Cook says Mann Bracken’s lawyers are out of work and the phones are instructing callers to contact their creditors. Could it be? It could. Mann Bracken has been under fire in Georgia, [...]

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Practical Effects of NAF’s Exit From Arbitration

September 9, 2009

National Arbitration Forum’s recent withdrawal from consumer arbitrations has cast a dark shadow on the use of arbitration as an alternative dispute resolution process and created ripples throughout the system. For example, Bank of America has dropped its arbitration requirement for all consumer transactions. Undoubtedly, this was a reactionary move to NAF’s withdrawal—Bank of America [...]

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Federal Trade Commission Accepting Public Comments on Debt Collection Litigation

August 27, 2009

On Tuesday, the FTC will hold a free roundtable in San Francisco, open to the public, on debt collection litigation and arbitration. The FTC is seeking public comments in advance of the event, and some of the existing public comments are, well, interesting. Debt buyers Midland Credit Management, Asset Acceptance, and Portfolio Recovery Associates whine [...]

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Bank of America Drops Mandatory Arbitration Clause

August 13, 2009

Bank of America just announced that it will no longer require consumers to arbitrate disputes concerning credit cards and other consumer accounts. Great news! The collapse of pre-dispute, mandatory binding arbitration continues. Hopefully other credit grantors will follow suit. Bank of America ends arbitration of card disputes | Reuters

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