Consumer Law

Perpetual arbitration with National Arbitration Forum

By Sam Glover

I learned a curious fact in the course of an arbitration proceeding with the National Arbitration Forum. Once either party obtains a stay of the arbitration, the opposing party has 15 days to file an objection. After that 15 days is up, apparently only the party that requested the stay can lift it.

In other words, if a debt collector requests a stay, and that stay was reasonable at the outset, but the debt collector then does nothing at all for months and months, until it gets to the point of being unreasonable, you are stuck. NAF will not lift the stay.

Yet another way in which arbitration is worse than the court system. In court, you can always ask the judge to make an exception. Apparently the same does not hold true in arbitration proceedings.

The lesson? Always object to a request for an indefinite stay. Demand a definite stay, if anything.

Full post as published by Caveat Emptor on April 30, 2008 (boomark / email).