What is Governor Romney's Position on Mandatory Predispute Arbitration Clauses?

by Jeff Sovern

That's the question I put to my research assistant.  He couldn't find an answer.  As far as he could tell from checking media reports and the governor's web site, Governor Romney has not spoken out on arbitration clauses in consumer contracts, the Concepcion case, etc.  Governor Romney has criticized the Dodd-Frank Act, which outlaws arbitration clauses in mortgage loans and calls for a CFPB study on arbitration clauses, but his criticism of the statute has been in general terms and given the scope of that statute, it is difficult to be certain that general opposition to the law means that he opposes the specific provisions on arbitration. Can anyone point me to comments by the governor on arbitration clauses in consumer contracts that my research assistant might have overlooked?  I inquired of the governor's campaign about ten days ago but haven't heard back.

If, as I believe, Governor Romney has not taken a position on mandatory predispute arbitration clauses, that would be a telling statement about public awareness of the issue.  My guess is that presidential candidates are forced to take positions on most issues of federal law (and many that are not federal, though this one is) that reach a certain threshhold of public concern; if the governor has not said anything about arbitration, that suggests that people are just not very aware of the arbitration issue, despite coverage by the media and the recent Supreme Court cases.  That view is supported by something I learned from listening to the audio version of The Occupy Handbook, editd by Janet Byrne, which consists of dozens of essays by leading journalists and academics, among others, including Paul Krugman, Robin Wells, Michael Lewis, Robert Reich, Amy Goodman, Barbara Ehrenreich, Gillian Tett, Scott Turow, Bethany McLean, Brandon Adams, and Tyler Cowen.  It includes a lot of economics and politics, and some discussion of consumer issues--chiefly, relief for homeowners who are underwater or in foreclosure--but I didn't notice any references to arbitration (though class actions were mentioned briefly).  The conclusion I come to is that arbitration is still well under the public's radar .

Comments

[Solange]

Mr. Sovern you are probably right but I suspect that it is because most people fail to understand what it means. If the subject of "mandatory predispute arbitration clauses" could be paraphrased with simple words or illustrated with obvious examples, whenever the occasion presents itself,people would definitely raise the subject at political meetings and elsewhere.
Just a thought.