110 HR 1443 IH: To treat arbitration clauses which are unilaterally U.S. House of Representatives 2007-03-09 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
I 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1443 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 9, 2007 Mr. Gutierrez (for himself, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Gonzalez, and Ms. Schakowsky) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To treat arbitration clauses which are unilaterally imposed on consumers as an unfair and deceptive trade practice and prohibit their use in consumer transactions, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the Consumer Fairness Act of 2007.
2.
Prohibition on arbitration clauses imposed on consumers without their consent
(a)
In General
The Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new title: <enum>X</enum><header>DISPUTE RESOLUTION</header> <section id="HC2EB3EEBBB1A4B839CE79DB5C6844660"><enum>1001.</enum><header>Short title; table of contents</header> <subsection id="H51F3F76DF59146709B4851935B69FA86"><enum>(a)</enum><header>Short Title</header><text>This title may be cited as the <quote>Consumer Fairness Act</quote>.</text> </subsection><subsection id="HE7745F26E023462791BC644830C3F9BD"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Table of Contents</header><text>The table of contents for this title is as follows:</text> <toc regeneration="no-regeneration"> <toc-entry level="title">TITLE X—DISPUTE RESOLUTION</toc-entry> <toc-entry level="section">Sec. 1001. Short title; table of contents.</toc-entry> <toc-entry level="section">Sec. 1002. Definitions.</toc-entry> <toc-entry level="section">Sec. 1003. Prohibition on arbitration clauses imposed on consumers without their consent.</toc-entry> </toc> </subsection></section><section id="H95342AA7ECE54BBE93626AB66C40A15F"><enum>1002.</enum><header>Definitions</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">For purposes of this title, the following definitions shall apply:</text> <paragraph id="H200E70EEF6994C12B03E73ACCE0B1B28"><enum>(1)</enum><header>Consumer</header><text>The term <term>consumer</term> means any individual.</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="HD6F7DA6D57A846CBA371A7FD8CB8DAF2"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Consumer transaction</header><text>The term <term>consumer transaction</term> means the sale or rental of goods, services, or real property, including an extension of credit or the provision of any other financial product or service, to an individual in a transaction entered into primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="H254D3F0B3AE447EB83C8AB29EE564BA0"><enum>(3)</enum><header>Consumer contract</header><text>The term <term>consumer contract</term> means any written, standardized form contract between the parties to a consumer transaction.</text> </paragraph></section><section id="H775C32E159A746928C97554B0D638A64"><enum>1003.</enum><header>Prohibition on arbitration clauses imposed on consumers without their consent</header> <subsection id="H8B9CB506259E4652AD6B2757E34D4AE2"><enum>(a)</enum><header>In General</header><text>A written provision in any consumer transaction or consumer contract which requires binding arbitration (whether by the terms of such transaction or contract directly or at the request of any party to the transaction or contract) to resolve any controversy arising out of or related to the transaction or contract, or the failure to perform the whole or any part of the transaction or contract shall constitute a violation of this title, shall not be enforceable, and shall be treated as an unfair and deceptive trade act or practice under Federal or State law.</text> </subsection><subsection id="H14267447D1F84264A71B1CB5E16A4C46"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Post-Controversy Agreements</header><text>Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to a written agreement to determine by binding arbitration an existing controversy arising out of a consumer transaction or consumer contract if the written agreement has been entered into by the parties to the consumer transaction or consumer contract after the controversy has arisen.</text> </subsection><subsection id="HAFCB69CE25BF47F7BA92D4777F7A6AF4"><enum>(c)</enum><header>Compliance</header><text>Compliance with the requirements of this title shall be enforced in the same manner as compliance with the requirements imposed under the preceding title are enforced under section 917 of such title.</text> </subsection><subsection id="H3B0F1916440A462D89B935EF6312A254"><enum>(d)</enum><header>Coordination With Other Law</header><text>No provision of this section shall be construed as annulling, altering, affecting, or superseding any Federal law, or the laws of any State, relating to arbitration in connection with consumer transactions or consumer contracts, except to the extent that those laws are inconsistent with the provisions of this section, and then only to the extent of the inconsistency.</text> </subsection></section>. (b)
Applicability
The amendments made by this section shall apply to all consumer transactions and consumer contracts entered into on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act, amendments entered into on or after such date of enactment to any consumer transaction or consumer contract without regard to the date such transaction was consummated or such contract entered into, and to all controversies pending or filed on, or arising after, the date of such date of enactment.