U.S. Bill Would Limit Consumer Arbitration

As the U.S. Supreme Court and consumer studies on arbitration praise the benefits of arbitration, the 111st Congress is advancing a bill that would ban arbitration in consumer mortgage contracts.

H.R. 1728 proposed by Rep. Miller (D- NC), titled the “Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2009,” would Amend the Truth in Lending Act of 1968. The bill provides, among other things, that “[n]o residential mortgage loan and no extension of credit under an open end consumer credit plan secured by the principal dwelling of the consumer, other than a reverse mortgage may include terms which require arbitration of any other nonjudicial procedure as the method for resolving any controversy.” Status: Referred to the house Committee on Financial Services on 03/26/2009.

See related posts:

• Plaintiffs Bar Pushes Capitol Hill Agenda (Mar. 31, 2009) by David Ingram, Legal Times.
• Conversations about Studies Regarding Arbitration (Apr. 1, 2009), National Arbitration Forum Blog.
• Consumers Won More than Half of Arbitrations Studied (Mar. 12, 2009) by Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal.

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