Attorney Robert E. Duff takes a look at recent Indiana case law that makes it difficult for consumers to challenge averse arbitration awards in state court.

The cases are Weldon v. Asset Acceptance, LLC, 896 N.E.2d 1181 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008) and Meyer v. National City Bank, No. 44A03-0808-CV-391 (March 31, 2009). There is no need to get into the facts of the cases or the legal intracacies. I’ll just tell you what they mean for Indiana consumers.

The Weldon case makes it very difficult for Indiana consumers to challenge an arbitration award. First, and this is critically important, the challenge must be filed within three months after the award is “filed or delivered.” What “filed or delivered” means apparently will depend on the rules of the entity agreed-upon (allegedly) to conduct the arbitration. In Weldon’s case, it was the mailing of the award by U.S. Mail. Proof of receipt of the mailing is not required. This means that, as Weldon alleged in his case, the time to challenge the arbitration award could expire before the consumer has any idea that an arbitration was ever filed! If that happens, under the Weldon decision, the consumer is simply out of luck

Technorati Tags: arbitration awards, credit cards, debt, Indiana law

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