Banks versus Consumers – who wins?

The article then goes into a few statistics:

• NAF handled 33,933 collection arbitrations in California, from January 2003
  through March, 2007; of the 18,075 that weren't dropped by creditors, otherwise dismissed, or
  settled, consumers won just 30, or 0.002%, of these cases; 
• NAF employs 1,700 freelance arbitrators - mostly moonlighting lawyers and
  retired judges - who handle some 200,000 cases a year, most of them concerning
  consumer debt; and
• NAF’s presentation to clients tells them that, in cases in which an award or
  order is granted, 93.7% are decided without consumers ever responding and that
  only 0.3% of consumers ask for a hearing (the rest just tussle through the
  debate via mail).

As a result NAF is becoming the target of a legal action with
consumers claiming that rather than arbitrating, they are purely acting on
behalf of banks. For example, 1,400 Virginia residents claimed that they had
been promised, in writing, that they could appear at hearings before an NAF
arbitrator but that the law firm representing NAF, Wolpoff & Abramson,
failed to arrange the hearings. The case was settled in favour of the
residents.

Interesting article.