After the NAF agreed to stop accepting some arbitrations, the American Arbitration Association followed suit. Now it appears one of their customers, Bank of America is pulling out altogether: “Bank of America Corp, the largest U.S. bank, said on Thursday it is dropping a requirement that forces consumers with disputes on credit cards and other accounts into an arbitration process, which critics say favors card issuers.”
I suppose this comes as something of a surprise, but as a practical matter, with the halt at NAF and the AAA, Bank of America may not have had an institution capable of handling the volume of its claims. Of course, the main concern at this blog is the effect this news will have on the Arbitration Fairness Act. Recent events do not seem to have spurred Congress to action on the matter, and it remains to be seen whether the AFA can compete for legislative attention with everything else happening in Washington. Regardless, we’ll keep our eye on it.
Quinn Smith