Arbitration is nothing like going to court. Arbitration takes place outside of a courtroom, without a judge, without a jury, and with limited opportunity to seek or present evidence. What’s more, the proceedings are entirely confidential and are often presided over by arbitrators paid for by the defendant.
Soon after President Donald Trump took office with a pledge to cut regulations, Republicans in Congress killed an Obama-era rule restricting how broadband companies may use customer data such as web browsing histories.
The perpetrators use networks of bogus web sites, social media, and e-commerce technology to trick users into ordering “free trials” of supposedly celebrity-endorsed products, only to find they’ve unknowingly signed up to receive regular shipments for which they’re automatically charged on a monthly basis.
“Wells Fargo’s customers were ripped off twice,” said Richard Holober, Executive Director of Consumer Federation of California. “First, the bank created two million fraudulent accounts. Then when consumers tried to sue, the bank forced them into company-dominated arbitration hearings. SB 33 will guarantee that the victims of a bank’s identity theft will get their day in court.”
Legislative deliberations continued Tuesday over a bill that seeks to prevent financial institutions accused of defrauding their customers from pulling legal disputes out of the state court system and into private arbitration.