Amended in Assembly May 23, 2013

Amended in Assembly May 13, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 802


Introduced by Assembly Member Wieckowski

February 21, 2013


An act to amend Section 1281.96 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to consumer arbitration.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 802, as amended, Wieckowski. Private arbitration companies: disclosures.

Existing law regulates arbitration conducted pursuant to an arbitration agreement, as specified. Existing law requires a private arbitration company involved in consumer arbitration cases to collect and make certain information regarding those cases available to the public in a computer-searchable format, accessible at the Internet Web site of the private arbitration company, if it has an Internet Web site, and on paper upon request.

This bill would require a private arbitration company to collect additional information related to a consumer arbitration case, as specified, and to provide the information in a single cumulative report. The bill would require a private arbitration company to make the report available as raw data in an open standard format that allows the public to search, extract, organize, and analyze the information, and to make the report accessible on the home page of the private arbitration company’s Internet Web site, as specified. The bill would, within 30 days of the closing of a consumer arbitration case, require a private arbitration company to provide each party with the specific information that the company proposes to report, and to provide the parties with a reasonable period of time to notify it of any errors. The bill also would authorize a consumer or public prosecutor to bring an actionbegin delete to enforceend deletebegin insert solely for injunctive relief to enjoin a material violation ofend insert these provisions, as specified.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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SECTION 1.  

Section 1281.96 of the Code of Civil Procedure
2 is amended to read:

3

1281.96.  

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of subdivision
4(c), a private arbitration company that administers or is otherwise
5involved in a consumer arbitration, shall collect, publish at least
6quarterly, and make available to the public on the Internet Web
7site of the private arbitration company, if any, and on paper upon
8request, a single cumulative report that contains all of the following
9information regarding each consumer arbitration within the
10preceding five years:

11(1) Whether arbitration was demanded pursuant to a pre-dispute
12arbitration clause and, if so, whether the pre-dispute arbitration
13clause designated the administering private arbitration company.

14(2) Whether the arbitration was administered pursuant to, or as
15a result of, a petition to compel arbitration.

16(3) The name of the nonconsumer party, if the nonconsumer
17party is a corporation or other business entity, and whether the
18nonconsumer party was the initiating party or the responding party.

19(4) The state in which the arbitration occurred and the state in
20which each party resides.

21(5) The nature of the dispute involved as one of the following:
22goods; credit; other banking or finance; insurance; health care;
23construction; real estate; telecommunications, including software
24and Internet usage; debt collection; personal injury; or employment.
25If the dispute involved employment, the amount of the employee’s
26annual wage divided into the following ranges: less than one
27hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), one hundred thousand dollars
28($100,000) to two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000),
29inclusive, and over two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).

P3    1(6) Whether any counterclaims or cross-claims were requested
2or allowed, and whether class arbitration was requested or granted.

3(7) Whether the consumer or nonconsumer party was the
4prevailing party as defined in Section 1032.

5(8) The total number of occasions, if any, the nonconsumer
6party has previously been a party in an arbitration.

7(9) The total number of occasions, if any, the nonconsumer
8party has previously been a party in a mediation administered by
9the private arbitration company.

10(10) Whether the consumer party was represented by an attorney
11 and, if so, the name of the attorney and the full name of the law
12firm that employs the attorney, if any.

13(11) The date the private arbitration company received the
14demand for arbitration, the date the arbitrator was appointed, and
15the date of disposition by the arbitrator or private arbitration
16company.

17(12) The type of disposition of the dispute, if known, identified
18as one of the following: withdrawal, abandonment, settlement,
19award after hearing, award without hearing, default, or dismissal
20without hearing. If a case was administered in a hearing, indicate
21whether the hearing was conducted in person, by telephone or
22video conference, or by documents only.

23(13) Whether the private arbitration company rejected or
24declined to administer the dispute and, if so, the reasons upon
25which the decision was based.

26(14) Whether the private arbitration company terminated
27administration of the dispute for nonpayment of fees and, if so,
28the party or parties that failed to pay the required fees.

29(15) The amount of the claim, whether equitable relief was
30requested or awarded, the amount of any monetary award, the
31amount of any attorney’s fees awarded, and any other relief
32granted, if any.

33(16) The name of the arbitrator, his or her total fee for the case,
34the percentage of the arbitrator’s fee allocated to each party, and
35whether the fee allocation was included in the underlying award.

36(17) The total amount of the private arbitration company’s fees,
37the percentage of those fees allocated to each party, whether a
38waiver of any fees was granted for an indigent party, and, if so,
39the amount of the waiver.

P4    1(18) The rules governing the arbitration, including whether the
2parties were permitted full discovery, whether the arbitrator was
3required to apply the law, whether the arbitrator was required to
4follow the rules of evidence, and whether the parties were entitled
5to all legal remedies.

6(b) The information required by this section shall be made
7available as raw data in an open standard format that allows the
8public to search, extract, organize, and analyze the information,
9and shall be directly accessible from a conspicuously displayed
10link on the Internet Web site home page, if any, of the private
11arbitration company with the identifying description: “consumer
12case information.” The information shall be presented
13alphabetically by nonconsumer party name, and within that order,
14chronologically based on the filing date of the arbitration.

15(c) (1) If the information required by subdivision (a) is provided
16by the private arbitration company in compliance with subdivision
17(b) and may be downloaded without a fee, the company may charge
18the actual cost of copying to any person who requests the
19information on paper. If the information required by subdivision
20(a) is not accessible by the Internet in compliance with subdivision
21(b), the company shall provide that information without charge to
22any person who requests the information on paper.

23(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a private arbitration company
24that receives funding pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with
25Section 465) of Division 1 of the Business and Professions Code
26and that administers or conducts fewer than 50 consumer
27arbitrations per year may collect and publish the information
28required by subdivision (a) semiannually, provide the information
29only on paper, and charge the actual cost of copying.

30(d) This section shall apply to any consumer arbitration
31commenced on or after January 1, 2003.

32(e) A private arbitration company shall not have any liability
33for collecting, publishing, or distributing the information required
34by this section.

35(f) Within 30 days of closing a consumer arbitration case subject
36to this section, a private arbitration company shall provide each
37party with a copy of this section and the specific information that
38the company proposes to report pursuant to subdivision (a). The
39private arbitration company shall provide the parties with a
P5    1reasonable period of time to notify it of any errors and shall
2promptly correct any errors.

3(g) begin delete(1)end deletebegin deleteend deleteA consumer or public prosecutor, as described in Section
417204 of the Business and Professions Code, may bring an action
5begin delete to enforce compliance with this section and to prevent a private
6arbitration company from administering further consumer
7arbitrations until the company is in compliance.end delete
begin insert solely for injunctive
8relief to enjoin a material violation of this section. A technical,
9clerical, or de minimus violation shall not constitute a material
10violation.end insert

begin delete

11(2) A court may impose, in its discretion, a civil penalty from
12ten thousand dollars ($10,000) to twenty-five thousand dollars
13($25,000) to be deposited in the state account established for the
14distribution of funds to support dispute resolution programs as
15provided in Section 470.5 of the Business and Professions Code.

end delete
begin delete

16(3) The court shall award a prevailing consumer or public
17prosecutor reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred in ensuring
18compliance with this section.

end delete


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