Section 29 Arbitration

• Library: Consumer Law and Practice 2010

It has become quite common for arbitration clauses to be placed in consumer contracts. Everything from credit card applications, new car sales, used car sales, nursing home admittance, even a doctor's care and treatment, can be covered by an arbitration clause. Arbitration clauses have been a matter of much litigation in recent years, and two of the cases that have addressed them are Krueger v. Heartland Chevrolet, Inc., 289 S.W.3d 637 (Mo. App. W.D. 2009), and Woods v. QC Financial Services, Inc., 280 S.W.3d 90 (Mo. App. E.D. 2008). In QC Financial Services, the appeal was from the trial court's declaratory judgment that the arbitration clause was unconscionable. The appellant was a payday lender with whom the respondent had entered into a loan contract on several occasions. The respondent filed a petition alleging that the appellant had committed several violations of Missouri statutes governing payday loans, seeking class certification for those similarly situated to the respondent. The appellant sought a dismissal and asked the trial court to compel the respondent to engage in arbitration as provided for in the mandatory arbitration clause. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's order of arbitration. See also Whitney v....