BILL NUMBER: AB 802 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 23, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 13, 2013
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 action to enforce
solely for injunctive relief to enjoin a material violation of
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:
SECTION 1. Section 1281.96 of the Code of Civil Procedure is
amended to read:
1281.96. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(c), a private arbitration company that administers or is otherwise
involved in a consumer arbitration, shall collect, publish at least
quarterly, and make available to the public on the Internet Web site
of the private arbitration company, if any, and on paper upon
request, a single cumulative report that contains all of the
following information regarding each consumer arbitration within the
preceding five years:
(1) Whether arbitration was demanded pursuant to a pre-dispute
arbitration clause and, if so, whether the pre-dispute arbitration
clause designated the administering private arbitration company.
(2) Whether the arbitration was administered pursuant to, or as a
result of, a petition to compel arbitration.
(3) The name of the nonconsumer party, if the nonconsumer party is
a corporation or other business entity, and whether the nonconsumer
party was the initiating party or the responding party.
(4) The state in which the arbitration occurred and the state in
which each party resides.
(5) The nature of the dispute involved as one of the following:
goods; credit; other banking or finance; insurance; health care;
construction; real estate; telecommunications, including software and
Internet usage; debt collection; personal injury; or employment. If
the dispute involved employment, the amount of the employee's annual
wage divided into the following ranges: less than one hundred
thousand dollars ($100,000), one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000)
to two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000), inclusive, and over
two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).
(6) Whether any counterclaims or cross-claims were requested or
allowed, and whether class arbitration was requested or granted.
(7) Whether the consumer or nonconsumer party was the prevailing
party as defined in Section 1032.
(8) The total number of occasions, if any, the nonconsumer party
has previously been a party in an arbitration.
(9) The total number of occasions, if any, the nonconsumer party
has previously been a party in a mediation administered by the
private arbitration company.
(10) Whether the consumer party was represented by an attorney
and, if so, the name of the attorney and the full name of the law
firm that employs the attorney, if any.
(11) The date the private arbitration company received the demand
for arbitration, the date the arbitrator was appointed, and the date
of disposition by the arbitrator or private arbitration company.
(12) The type of disposition of the dispute, if known, identified
as one of the following: withdrawal, abandonment, settlement, award
after hearing, award without hearing, default, or dismissal without
hearing. If a case was administered in a hearing, indicate whether
the hearing was conducted in person, by telephone or video
conference, or by documents only.
(13) Whether the private arbitration company rejected or declined
to administer the dispute and, if so, the reasons upon which the
decision was based.
(14) Whether the private arbitration company terminated
administration of the dispute for nonpayment of fees and, if so, the
party or parties that failed to pay the required fees.
(15) The amount of the claim, whether equitable relief was
requested or awarded, the amount of any monetary award, the amount of
any attorney's fees awarded, and any other relief granted, if any.
(16) The name of the arbitrator, his or her total fee for the
case, the percentage of the arbitrator's fee allocated to each party,
and whether the fee allocation was included in the underlying award.
(17) The total amount of the private arbitration company's fees,
the percentage of those fees allocated to each party, whether a
waiver of any fees was granted for an indigent party, and, if so, the
amount of the waiver.
(18) The rules governing the arbitration, including whether the
parties were permitted full discovery, whether the arbitrator was
required to apply the law, whether the arbitrator was required to
follow the rules of evidence, and whether the parties were entitled
to all legal remedies.
(b) The information required by this section shall be made
available as raw data in an open standard format that allows the
public to search, extract, organize, and analyze the information, and
shall be directly accessible from a conspicuously displayed link on
the Internet Web site home page, if any, of the private arbitration
company with the identifying description: "consumer case information."
The information shall be presented alphabetically by nonconsumer
party name, and within that order, chronologically based on the
filing date of the arbitration.
(c) (1) If the information required by subdivision (a) is provided
by the private arbitration company in compliance with subdivision
(b) and may be downloaded without a fee, the company may charge the
actual cost of copying to any person who requests the information on
paper. If the information required by subdivision (a) is not
accessible by the Internet in compliance with subdivision (b), the
company shall provide that information without charge to any person
who requests the information on paper.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a private arbitration company
that receives funding pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section
465) of Division 1 of the Business and Professions Code and that
administers or conducts fewer than 50 consumer arbitrations per year
may collect and publish the information required by subdivision (a)
semiannually, provide the information only on paper, and charge the
actual cost of copying.
(d) This section shall apply to any consumer arbitration commenced
on or after January 1, 2003.
(e) A private arbitration company shall not have any liability for
collecting, publishing, or distributing the information required by
this section.
(f) Within 30 days of closing a consumer arbitration case subject
to this section, a private arbitration company shall provide each
party with a copy of this section and the specific information that
the company proposes to report pursuant to subdivision (a). The
private arbitration company shall provide the parties with a
reasonable period of time to notify it of any errors and shall
promptly correct any errors.
(g) (1) A consumer or public
prosecutor, as described in Section 17204 of the Business and
Professions Code, may bring an action to enforce compliance
with this section and to prevent a private arbitration company from
administering further consumer arbitrations until the company is in
compliance. solely for injunctive relief to enjoin a
material violation of this section. A technical, clerical, or de
minimus violation shall not constitute a material violation.
(2) A court may impose, in its discretion, a civil penalty from
ten thousand dollars ($10,000) to twenty-five thousand dollars
($25,000) to be deposited in the state account established for the
distribution of funds to support dispute resolution programs as
provided in Section 470.5 of the Business and Professions Code.
(3) The court shall award a prevailing consumer or public
prosecutor reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred in ensuring
compliance with this section.