U.S. Supreme Court rules credit repair firms can force arbitration

Source: Los Angeles Times

A 1996 law sought to protect struggling consumers from businesses promising to improve their credit rating, and specifically gave customers the right to sue any firm in violation.

But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that credit repair companies could block such lawsuits and instead force disgruntled customers into binding arbitration if they had agreed to such a provision in the fine print of their agreements.

The 8-1 decision is another in a string of high court rulings in recent years that have backed an arbitration clause over a customer's right to file a lawsuit.

... "This Supreme Court is just steam-rolling over the American civil justice system and throwing consumers to the wolves," said Doug Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, an education and advocacy group.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-forced-arbitration-20120111,0,3901221.story